Hiccup in a Flash
by Natan Fierreta
Summary: SUPERHERO AU. Night Fury is the new Vigilante that appeared in Berk. Astrid and Hiccup, best detective and forensic scientist, have been reluctantly working together to find out who he is. It leads them to cross the path of a new power-rising gang. To push Night Fury and the police to work together, Hiccup has to make a huge gamble with Astrid. Some might call it stupid, or crazy.
1. Chapter 1 - Hostage situation

**Hiccup in a Flash, chap 1**

**I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or its characters, just merely borrowing the character for an adventure of my own.**

**This is my first fanfic I ever wrote so please have mercy! ^^ More seriously, I would like to precise that English is not my mother tongue so please point to me the errors I made, the misuses of expression or what expression would be better to use so that I can improve myself.**

**About this fanfic: I was actually in a frenzy of reading HTTYD fanfic and especially Modern AU ones. And I really enjoyed O Superhero and The Stormfly but was sad that I couldn't read some more about it so I decided to write one myself.**

**Please enjoy yourself with this fanfic ^^**

**\- Chapter 1: Hostage situation**

* * *

"We are still here at the Bank of Berk and the status of the hostage situation has remained the same. No progress has been made in the last few hours."

The angle of the camera changed to show a close-up of the bank. The stores in the surrounding area were closed up and the police had completely surrounded the bank.

"As you can see the criminals have taken refuge inside and have taken hostages. We've been told that there are at least five hostiles with 18 hostages. They apparently came in force for a quick grab-and-run operation but were stopped by a police patrol passing by. The police quickly surrounded them and Commissioner Haddock personally came to supervise the negotiation."

The view changed for another camera that was filming the Commissioner Haddock barking orders.

"Seven hours have passed since the police surrounded the bank. The situation seems quite hopeless for the hostages inside, as the robbers have already killed three of them to prove they are not to be taken lightly. We still haven't been told what they were asking for but Commissioner Haddock, as he had already declared in his last nomination speech, clearly stated that he refuses to be intimidated by anyone, especially not by those ready to use such degrees of violence. He has kept his men on site freezing to death outside without moving for the entire time in order to keep the bank surrounded on this 12th February."

After the camera had shown different angles showing the police surrounding the bank, it went back to the correspondent on site.

"We've also been told that there is apparently at least one hostage wounded and nothing seemed to make his misery shorter. We have come to an understanding that this situation is likely to remain in a state of stalemate for the remaining duration of time. No major changes are expected before nightfall."

Back to the news station.

"Thank you Anthony for this update on the hostage situation at the Bank of Berk. We will keep you posted. A reminder for the viewers joining us right now that a bank robbery turned into a hostage situation is still happening right now at the center of our city and footage is coming to us from our correspondent on site."

He then turned to his co-host.

"But I have to say that, sadly, this situation isn't that surprising. Berk has grown to know quite a peak of criminality for the past three years don't you think so Samantha?"

"You're right Frank. Violent crimes have increased by 50% since 2012, larceny is up by 60% and murder by 40%. But a large part of it is due to the rapid growth of Berk. It is the most spectacular growth for a city that has been seen in the the past century. The population has doubled in the last 5 years and the size of the city has tripled in size with the arrival of multiple offices, schools and factories in the suburbs and in the center of the city."

Different graphs and statistics appeared on screen as she spoke.

"But it is also true that the criminality has been down by 18% this one month and thus after an 8% steady decrease for the past months. This is a historical record for Berk that is hard to explain. Even if the Police Department prides itself on having the most efficient police force in the US, many seem to be dissatisfied with this explanation alone."

A glimpse of comprehension passed in her co-host's eyes. "Ah! You must be speaking about the mysterious Night Fury we've been hearing about in recent rumors."

She blushed a bit at the grin and teasing tone of Frank but kept her head high.

"I know that most rumors sound a bit out there but I genuinely believe that there is some amount of truth to these."

Frank himself was not one to put stock in fairy tales.

"Do you really think that there is a mysterious vigilante in a black costume running the streets, helping people, fighting crime for justice, liberty and..."

He stopped in his tracks as orders were yelled into his earpiece. He frowned at the interruption, clearly displeased at it; though it sounded urgent.

"It seems that there has been progress on the robbery of the Bank of Berk. Anthony what can you tell us?"

The frown on Frank's face deepened even more as the correspondent on site appeared on screen. Frank never liked when such sudden interruptions occurred, he always found it unprofessional but not as much as it was proving to be right now. It looked like the correspondent completely forgot that he was on TV as he stared at the camera blankly, shock written on his face.

"Hum, Anthony? Can you hear us? Are there changes on site?"

Waking up from his trance, he tried to answer the question the best he could.

"I -I don't know what -I -it seemed like..."

He stopped and forced himself to calm down, taking deep breaths. Then he tried again as professionally as he could.

"As you can see behind me the hostage situation has been resolved a minute ago and a man dressed in a black costume is currently standing in front of the bank. From the looks of it, he alone has ended this tense hostage situation without any bloodshed."

The camera zoomed over his shoulder to focus in on a 6 foot-tall man dressed in a night black leather armor suit. He was standing in front of five men on their knees, hands tied behind their backs. He turned to face the camera, watching the crowd through the slits of his mask and disappeared in a flash.

"What happened?! Where did he go? How did he do that?" exclaimed Frank, losing a major part of his cherished professionalism.

"I -I have no idea. Let's see what our camera managed to film a minute ago."

The picture changed, showing the exterior of the bank filmed from the roof of the building in front of it.

A black blur in the shape of a line seemed to enter the building. Immediately afterwards some shots were heard quickly followed by 15 people fleeing out of the bank, one of them with a wounded shoulder. Moments later the unconscious robbers appeared one by one outside the bank as a blur seemed to be going back and forth from the bank. When all of them were apprehended a man stood in front of them in a full black costume. He stayed there staring at the robbers a moment then, turned around to face the crowd when he suddenly disappeared in another blur.

The picture suddenly went back and stopped on the moment he turned around. The image was blown up and you could clearly see the mysterious savior. He was wearing a black leather suit with an engraving of a red dragon symbol on his shoulder. He had a helmet also made of black leather with two slits for the eyes and two black fins on his hears. Smaller fins formed three rows going from the eyes' slit and disappearing at the back of his head.

Frank couldn't comprehend what he was looking at, what he had just seen. He said the first thing that came to him.

"Who the f*ck is he?"

"Night Fury," answered a gleeful Samantha.

* * *

"THIS MENACE HAS DISGRACED THE ENTIRE DEPARTMENT!" yelled Steven Haddock, Police Commissioner of Berk.

As always his voice was as massive as his person. Over 7 feet tall, in his black suit he looked like an ox with a particularly impressive beard. He was wearing a deep blue (almost black) suit with a white shirt and blood red tie that was the same color as his massive, but surprisingly well combed, beard braided in thick braids like a sunset. On the reverse of his jacket shined the pin of his position.

"DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THIS HAS EMBARRASSED ME?! Could you please explain to me how the finest of Berk needed the help of one guy in a costume to save their arses?!"

No one dared to answer. The Commissioner was fuming and with his impressive build and the natural respect he commanded even Hulk would have thought twice before talking back to him. The Commissioner was the kind of man that needed 10 men to stop him in his prime and, even if he had grew old and was beginning to show some belly, you would still need 6 strong men to stop him, just to be on the safe side. He was not someone to be trifled with.

"Do you know how much of a fool you made me to be?!"

Steven Stefan Haddock, also known among the cops as Stoick The Vast, was many things but foolish. Second generation in the Force, he worked his way up from the very bottom to the post of Commissioner and earned the respect and admiration of his peers. If one had to qualify him after his 32 years in the police, he would describe Stoick as boar-headed and intuitive. He always knew when he was being lied to, cut straight to the chase and he was usually spot-on when chasing his gut feeling. Dedicated to his work, he earned the reputation of being fair in his decisions and to always staying true to his word. That's why he had been nominated as the Commissioner for the past 26 years. As exemplary as he was, he was also known for his impressive temper and everyone knew better than to get on his bad side.

Well, that is everyone except his son Harold and Night Fury.

Speak of the devil, Harold Henri Haddock, aka Hiccup, third generation in the Police did not seem to be too pleased to have to attend his Father's speech. He did not see the point of him being here. Sure he was a cop but he was just a forensic scientist and he was not really concerned by all that. Plus he was pretty sure that he would have his own private version of the speech given to him by none other than his father later, in his forensic lab. Along with the disapproving look of his father on his lab coat, an eternal reminder to him that Hiccup was not following the family tradition like he did.

"That vigilante that saved ALL of your ass's is NO HERO!"

To be sure he had made his point across he slammed his fist onto his podium that made a sickening crack.

"He is like a LEECH; sucking energy off of the attention, waited hours to be sure that the media was there to see him! And only then, too late by hours, he intervened and interfered with police work! He's trying to RIDICULE us and prove us INCOMPETENT! He wants to make the population of Berk believe that they don't need us! But not on my watch! He got lucky this time that nobody else got shot! But if he had worked with us instead of against us we could have prevented the death of three people! Those deaths are ON HIM just as much as the robbers!"

Hiccup twitched at the last remark. He was sure that Night Fury wasn't to blame.

_If he knew..._

"Despite what the media are saying, he's NO GOOD SAMARITAN! And I am pretty damn sure that he is closer to being the UNHOLY OFFSPRING OF LIGHTNING AND DEATH ITSELF rather than a HERO! Why else would he use a mask and costume; of which the only aim is to terrify the population of good citizens?"

Hiccup winced.

_The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself, really Dad? Don't you think that it is a bit overdramatic? Why not say that it's some legendary fire-breathing beast while you're at it._

_Although, the lightning part is not quite so far off._

"I WANT HIM ARRESTED! No man and woman of this department should rest until we catch him! I will not let a damn wannabe vigilante let loose in MY city! The only heroes of this city are the people of this department, RISKING THEIR LIVES in the open every single day for this city! Not some FREAK in a mask and a costume whose only superpower seems to be running into problems and MOCKING US!"

He ended his speech, his voice vibrating with anger, fierce flames of determination shining in his eyes.

_Yep, I am definitely in trouble_ thought Hiccup.

* * *

Hiccup, commonly known by the population of Berk by his alter-ego Night Fury, never intended for things to turn this way. Since he started to patrol the streets 5 months ago, he tried to help whenever he could but never never before had he caught the relentless eye of the media. He enjoyed staying in the shadows and being nothing more than a legend. At first his actions were just a rumor that no one seemed to believe. Minds were forced to changed as it became obvious that someone was fighting crime. But even then people tried to dismiss the possibility of a vigilante with powers that seemed to be coming straight from a comic book, elaborating all sorts of theories. Those theories went from gangs turning on each other to a secret police task force with a tad of governmental conspiracy.

Then a month ago a kid got trapped in a burning apartment. His parents were away for the night and he apparently thought he could fry himself some eggs. But when the oil in the pan caught fire he threw, some water in it; sending flames to the nearby curtains. Panic overcame him and he thought he would be fine if he locked himself in his room and pretended that he had done nothing wrong.

Definitely a bad idea, but when you're five, you know more about avoiding being grounded than how to put out a fire. So as he was elaborating excuses, he got blocked in his room by flames that spread everywhere in the apartment and the firemen were too late to try and rescue him. They could only evacuate the other residents and try to control the fire. Hiccup arrived when the fire was starting to spread into the kid's room. He took him in his arms and quickly ran to the playground behind the building. But as he asked him if he was okay the kid burst into tears, screaming unintelligibly that it wasn't his fault if the kitchen was on fire, it was the water's fault.

A tad panicked, Hiccup tried to reassure him. He said whatever he could to calm him the sobbing child. It was utter non-sense that could be somewhat resume like that: that it wasn't his fault - sob - and because it was such a dark night - sob - the fury of flames would make him come to the rescue every time - sob - so he didn't have to worry - sob - that he would be safe even if that ever happened again. Hiccup, himself, didn't know what he was saying but it seemed to work as the kid began to calm down. Then he suddenly heard someone coming and disappeared in the night.

But unknown to him a neighbor in the next building filmed the fire and also filmed Hiccup and the boy when he heard the kid crying. When Hiccup disappeared in a flash he showed it to a journalist who then asked the kid what Hiccup told him. He couldn't make much sense of what the kid told him but understood one thing: he said that he was Night Fury.

After that it became his official nickname. Hiccup found it kind of funny how such a nickname could come from his previous blabber but he liked how cool it sounded. He didn't think he would have found better - he's been trying for weeks to find a cool nickname but the best he had come up with was The Flash. Not his best idea.

The video of him disappearing in a flash was soon spread everywhere and everybody in Berk had watched it at least once. The media started arguing whether it was a hoax or not. If there was really a vigilante with superpowers or it was just some big joke. Most people thought it was just a hoax of someone trying to be famous but a few began to watch the street in hope of catching a glimpse of Night Fury.

Hiccup's father however didn't see from a good eye the possibility of a vigilante. The last thing he wanted was some wannabe hero doing more harm than good in the street and undermining the trust in the police.

Since then Hiccup had tried his best to stay out of the way of police work. When he arrived on a scene where the police were already present, he would wait to see if they could manage on their own and intervene only if somebody was in immediate danger or if they were in way over their head. But above all he promised himself to never intervene when the media or his father were present.

As fate would have it, not soon after that he found himself breaking his vow. When he heard about the hostage situation he waited to see how things would turn out. When he saw his father personally taking charge of it, he thought that everything would be all right. Little did he know. A few hours later, he heard that 3 hostages had been killed and that his father still wouldn't agree to the conditions that the thieves had proposed. He knew then that he had to intervene. He got there in a matter of seconds and entered without hesitation. He stopped and looked around to evaluate the situation.

He cringed when he saw the 3 bodies and a security guard injured on the floor, a bullet in his shoulder. 14 people were lined up on the floor near the register and were held at gunpoint by 3 robbers with their backs facing him. A robber next to him was watching the entrance while the last robber was on the phone arguing with the Commissioner. He was threatening to kill more hostages, yelling that after all "it's not like I will run out of hostages for the next few hours".

"What the f*ck!"

The robber watching the door yelled and opened fire at Hiccup. The four other robbers turned around and started to shoot while the hostages began to scream. Quickly Hiccup dodged the bullets by the narrowest of the margin with his lightning fast reflex and took the gun of the closest of the robbers faster than he could blink. By the time he realized he was no longer armed, Hiccup was running to the other four disarming them one by one. After piling the confiscated guns he cut loose the hostages.

"Run! They're disarmed! Get the hell out of here!"

In a matter of seconds the hostages were on their feet for the sprint of their life to the door, nearly running over the robbers. Two of them helped the wounded security guard to move. Once the hostages were no longer threatening to run them over, the robbers quickly took a defensive posture, knives and handguns flying in their hands.

"Who the hell are you? Are you supposed to be this Night Fury guy?"

"No. Just some random dude in a costume passing by." A smile in his voice, sarcasm dripping from it.

"Really?"

One of the robber genuinely believed his answer.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. Nobody gets his humor.

"Okay guys let's wrap this up nice and quick."

He took the leftover restraints from the robbers' bag and began to attach them one by one as he dropped them in front of the bank. He was glad that the lightning from his accident six and half months ago gave him some abs and more upper body strength on top of super speed. Otherwise he would have never been able to lift the robbers. But even now he was still doing it with some difficulties. He promised himself that he would definitely work on that later.

Once the last robber had been disarmed and dropped, he took his time to check if everything was done. Without a second thought he turned over on the sound of flashes going on and faced the crowd. Everyone was gaping at him, staring at the impossible. Even his father's jaw was dropping but by barely a millimeter. And even if the difference was imperceptible, Hiccup had to admit that was quite a sight. He had never seen his dad that surprised in his entire life, but it quickly made way to a fury of a scale that frightened Hiccup. As he diverted his gaze, he noticed a camera crew on top of a building filming directly at him.

_So much for discretion and remaining an urban legend._ Quickly he left the scene.

At this very moment, everyone present knew with certainty that life on Berk had changed forever. That the door to a universe of impossibilities had just opened and Hiccup knew that from this moment on, his life would become immensely more difficult.

* * *

"Hiccup, the Commissioner wants to see you."

Hiccup grunted.

_What does my father want with me? Is he going to scowl at me and tell me that I should start acting like a real 'cop' again?_

"Thank you Gobber."

Gobber was a family friend and an old partner of Stoick when he was still a detective. Gobber was a tall, bulky man with two out of four prosthetics limbs and a belly showing proof of his love for cheap food. He was wearing a sempiternal dirty lab jacket that he absolutely refused to change.

Once Hiccup tried to convince him to change it as it was in dying need of being washed. He argued that there was no point in changing it as he was sure that one day Hiccup will just burn it again with one of his experiments. Hiccup protested to that accusation, promising that he wouldn't burn his lab coat but Gobber would have none of it. To be fair Hiccup hadn't burned his lab coat in years.

_Ok, maybe not that long. A year two months and twenty-five days._

And he may had burnt a few dozen lab coats before that, including Gobber's, but it always had been alright, and he had finally managed to have Gobber wash his lab coat (even if it was a bit too late for that).

Hiccup took a moment to look at his second father. Blond and nearly bald with an impressively long mustache above a clean-shaven jaw, Gobber was quite a funny sight. He looked like one of those old Vikings of lore. He could be rough on the edges and tend to talk a bit too much of his mind but Gobber was someone that always kept a glimpse of amusement in his eyes with a hint of madness. Always keeping his calm he could brighten up every situation, even tough ones. And God knows Gobber had been in tough situations.

Together with Stoick they formed the most successful combo in the history of the Police Department with an impressive 87% of solved cases. It was until one day Gobber was run over by a fleeing criminal. He miraculously survived a risky operation but his left arm and right leg had been damaged beyond repair. He got amputated of both and lost a tooth in the process. After that accident he could no longer be on the field, despite his protests that he was fine.

As he was the only one at the time that knew how to operate the meager scientific equipment in the department (mostly because no one else would bother learning how, saying that it was just getting in the way of actual detective work) he was offered to create a scientific lab in the police department. He accepted it but was annoyed that he had been put on the bench like that. As time flew by, the science made progress and proved irreplaceable in solving cases and more and more of them came to depend upon the forensic work. Gobber was offered to become the head of the forensic lab with a generously reviewed budget.

A few years later he became the right hand of Stoick, the newly appointed Commissioner, position that hadn't existed before. Seven years later, as a favor to Stoick, he had let the young Hiccup wait in the lab while his father finished working. The seven-year-old boy became fascinated by the equipment and started liking it better than his dad's office. By ten, he knew how to operate every piece of machinery in the lab better than anyone. By twelve, he was proposing ideas to Gobber on how to improve things. By fifteen, he started making new equipment, doing his own experiments.

Coincidentally it was around that time that other cops started hearing explosions and yelling coming from the lab. By sixteen, he was known by the whole department as Hiccup as he once managed to create a powder that somehow made everyone hiccup for a whole week.

Even his classmates heard of it and soon after that, with Berk's world famous appetite for nicknames, everyone but his father was calling him Hiccup. Now at twenty-three, he was the second of Gobber and by far the most competent forensic scientist of the BCPD. Gobber was his second father that taught him everything he knew and the only one of the two he had to be proud of his work.

With a sigh Hiccup stood up and started making his way to the Commissioner's office. He paused a moment in front of the door and knocked at the door. He heard a grunt of his father as a response. As he entered he found his father behind his desk watching him enter, an eternally present scowl on his face at the sight of Hiccup's lab jacket.

Stoick couldn't comprehend Harold's interest in the forensics. When he started bringing Harold to the Police plaza after school he had hoped that he would be inspired by the cops and detectives as he himself had been when his own father brought him to the police station. He had always hoped that Harold would start working out and studying to become a fine detective as he had, that he would become strong and fast enough to catch criminals. Because at Berk, it was a necessity.

For long Berk had been a fishing village and all its inhabitants had very few to do except fishing and fighting each other. The result of such traditions being the birth of two odd particularities that all Berkians shared: the love for nicknames and the love of exercising. Nearly everybody in Berk loved to work out and an overwhelming portion of criminal had the physique of a Viking warrior.

Stoick had always hoped that his son would follow in his footsteps and become the pride of the department rather than being just a lab rat, never doing a real difference in the world, Berkian criminals being more brawn than brain. He tried many times to talk him out of it, to convince him that he should do better, especially after the fire in his lab that nearly killed him.

_But no! The only thing he had to inherit from me had to be stubbornness!_

Stoick let out a sigh.

_He looks so much like his mother._

Chasing those dark thoughts away, he focused himself on the discussion to come.

Hearing the sigh, Hiccup steeled himself for another argument on how he should start developing a physique that would allow him to make a difference in the world. How he should be more like his cousin, Detective Jorgenson, aka 'Snotlout'. Snotlout was a genuine moron but he was one of the strongest men of the Police Department. Hiccup grinned. He never saw someone so full of himself.

Once he saw his cousin whispering sweet words to his biceps in the mirror for like half an hour.

Suppressing the cold chill he felt at the awful memory of his dumb cousin in front of the mirror, he stepped into the office. Surprisingly, Stoick stopped scowling and gestured Hiccup to sit down. As he headed to the chair Hiccup noticed that someone else was also sitting in front of his dad's desk.

He spotted the blond braid that he could recognize everywhere and his heart skipped a beat.

Astrid was sitting there.

* * *

**I would like to thanks Septimus714 for the amazing job he did beta reading this chapter ^^**


	2. Chapter 2 - Time to up the game

**Hiccup in a Flash, chap 2**

**I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or its characters, just merely borrowing the character for an adventure of my own.**

**I would really to thank all the readers of this story. I was genuinely surprised to have that much views and people liking my story so soon after I publish it. It really warmed up my heart.**

**In response of the reviews I would like to say that I will try to not disappoint you for this chapter. And finally for Tori Berk I would like to say that I studied spanish in high school so I understood your review and like it ^^**

**Please enjoy yourself with this fanfic ^^**

**\- Chapter 2: Time to up his game**

* * *

If Snotlout Jorgenson was one of the strongest men of Berk Police Department, Astrid Hofferson was its strongest detective. She wasn't bulky like Hiccup's cousin, all brawn and no brain. Astrid had brains and, at first, she seemed to be as scrawny as Hiccup. But only at first. Astrid was an accomplished fighter, quick on her feet and surprisingly powerful for someone with such a small build. BCPD champion at range shooting and close second in the number of arrests in the history of the BCPD (only behind Stoick the Vast), she had no competition in the department. The only person that could beat her at sparring was the Commissioner himself. And still, the odds were only 4 to 6 against her.

And as if the Gods had thought it wasn't unfair enough for others, Astrid also happened to be one of the most stunning women in all Berk. She had soft pale skin on a heart-shape face with the most beautiful ocean blue eyes you ever saw. Stare at them for too long and you could swear you would start hearing the sound of waves and the smell of the sea. Her eyes were always a perfect reflection of her emotions and were one of her most vivid features. It would almost make you fail to notice the delicate freckles underlining them, her soft gold blonde hair tied into an intricate organized braid running along her left ear but still allowing some short strands to be loose in front of her left eye. The uniform, modern armor, suited her so well that Hiccup kind of regretted that she had been promoted to detective and had stopped wearing it. Instead she was wearing her usual clean white chemise shirt with a black vest over it and a skin tight blue jean empathizing her slim waist and the lean muscles of her legs. The only reason that she had not been crowned Miss Berk yet, was that she was too small to enter the competition (5 foot tall) but mostly because she hated the idea of having to show off half naked to be judged by people whose opinions didn't matter to her. She was goddamn beautiful and she knew it. No need for cosmetics or revealing outfits for her. Acting natural was more than enough. In consequence, she was one of the rare few of Berk that didn't have a nickname. Like Gobber, her name alone was enough to describe her.

Hiccup had known all that about her for a long time now; being one-sidedly in love with her for years tends to do that to you. Even though he had known Astrid for years; they had been going to the same school since primary school (at that time Berk wasn't so big); he never really got a chance to talk to her. Sure she had stopped by the forensic lab several times for some cases but it had never gotten beyond strictly professional conversations.

_I am not even sure she knows who I am. But it seems like it changed. Why is she glaring at me like that? Did I do something to upset her? I'm pretty damn sure I always avoid her whenever that happens._

As soon as he had sat down in his dad's office, Astrid turned to glare at him, clearly looking upset and infuriated. As if Hiccup had just stolen one of her case.

_(I advise you never do that if you value your life)_

When she was sure that Hiccup had understood that she was royally pissed at me, she faced the Commissioner again.

"Why do I have to team up with a lab rat?! It is MY case!"

Just the thought of it infuriated her even more.

_Damn it Night Fury! You will pay for this!_

Stoick cleared up his throat, trying to calm down a still clearly pissed Astrid. He knew she would not like it but he would leave her no choice in this matter. It might be the last chance for him to get Harold interested in detective work.

"Harold, I will be brief. I want you to team up with Detective Hofferson on the Night Fury case."

_He wants me to WHAT?!_

Hiccup tried to hide the shock the best he could but it seemed to be a lost battle.

_With Astrid of all people?! He must know I like her. It must be on purpose to torture me. On the Night Fury case to top it all?! It can't be good._

In a voice weaker than he had hoped to sound, he tried.

"Why do you want me to work a case with As -Detective Hofferson?"

Pissed as she was at him it was not a good idea to start calling her by her first name.

"I -I don't think I can be of much use to her."

Astrid smirked.

_Exactly my thought lab rat. How a skinny guy like you could hope to help me catch that bastard?_

"Harold, it is not up for discussion. Hofferson already tried to catch him, but after 3 weeks of trying she still doesn't have a single lead."

Stoick decided to ignore the furious glare that Astrid gave him.

"I discussed it with Gobber and after the fiasco at the bank we decided that we couldn't leave it to Hofferson anymore. We came to the conclusion that if our best detective couldn't get anywhere, it is because we treated it like it was a normal _human_ case. He clearly proved yesterday that he isn't some kind of hoax and he definitively possesses some power beyond our understanding. That is where you come into play."

Hiccup didn't like where this was going.

"This _unholy offspring_ escapes the grasp of our comprehension but he should still comply to the law of physics. We need someone with a deep understanding of physics to help us find clues in places where other detectives would see nothing. At first I wanted Gobber to team up with Hofferson because of his experience of the field but he insisted that you were the best element of the forensic lab, and that you understand physics far beyond him."

"But I never been in the field. I am no detective, I am a forensic scientist!"

Stoick cringed at being reminded that Harold wasn't a detective.

"My decision is FINAL Harold!"

He stared at both of them and dismissed them.

"You can go now. Both of you. Know Harold that Detective Hofferson has lead on this. You are bound to listen to her and do what she says. She will explain to you what she expects of you outside. In the meantime you are relieved of your current work at the forensic lab. You will now have a desk in the detective squad next to her."

He then turned to Astrid.

"Hofferson I want you to take Harold in all your cases. He is your new partner and I want him to get used to the field as quickly as possible. Otherwise he will be of no help. And this is NOT open to discussion!" He added when he saw Astrid ready to protest.

She shut her mouth and left angrily, slamming the door.

Once Hiccup got over the shock of news, he also got up and left grumbling.

_Great! Just great! Not only I have to investigate my alter-ego but I also have to stay at the detective squad! How in hell I am supposed to eclipse myself as Night Fury without being noticed? And to top it all Astrid now hates me all thanks to my dad!_

As he was heading toward his desk in the lab to grab some of his stuff, a hand grabbed him by the collar and pinned him on the wall behind him.

"Listen nerd! Let's make it clear right now! I don't need you! I can do this on my own and when I catch this bastard of Night Fury, I will get all of the credits. I won't share the credit for my work with you, even if you father is the Commissioner!"

_Oh! She does know who I am. I would have never guessed._

"Sure Astrid. I mean it's not like I wanted to work with you in the first place..."

"WHAT! You think you could do better ALONE?! That you can have my case all for yourself?!"

"WHAT?! NO! I didn't mean it like that! It's not that I don't want to -I mean it's just that -Well you see..."

"So what did you mean?!" Astrid's eyes began to glow in a dangerous light, ready to kill.

Hiccup gulped and tried to calm himself. He explained in a soft voice: "What I meant was that I didn't ask to work with you on the Night Fury case. I don't want to work on the Night Fury case in the first place."

Astrid calmed down a bit but still seemed to not completely believe him, keeping Hiccup pinned to the wall.

"Look, I swear I am not trying to steal your case! It's just that my dad always wanted for me to became a detective like him. And he thinks that if I work with you it will inspire me to be a detective or something like that. Huff! As if it would ever happen."

_He sounds bitter,_ thought Astrid. _I wonder why that is?_ Then she noticed Hiccup's eyes. Green forest with glimpse of gold. There was a strange hypnotic beauty with a tantalizing calm in those eyes.

_How can he stays that calm when I am pinning him on the wall? There is no fear of me, no indignation of being pushed over by a girl, no anger at my accusations. Just calm and sadness. Who is this guy?_

Hiccup raised an eyebrow when he saw Astrid stop aggressing him and looking at him curiously.

"A -Astrid, is everything okay?"

Astrid broke from her trance. Now she was mad that she got lost into his eyes. "Fine! Just shut up!"

She took a deep breath and decided of a plan of action.

_Alright since I have to put up with him, I better test him to see what he is capable of._

"Meet me in the detective squad tomorrow, first thing in the morning, and I will see if you can be at least a bit useful. But remember nerd: Night Fury is MINE!"

Then she just took of, leaving Hiccup alone, still leaning on the wall.

* * *

Hiccup didn't know what to think of his previous encounter with Astrid. They were just so many thing that went wrong. But one thing was clear.

_Astrid has a personal grudge against Night Fury. I wonder what I ever did to her? Man, what I am gonna do? From where I stand I see only two options: either I help Astrid catch myself or I managed to change my father's mind on catching Night Fury._

Hiccup groaned miserably. Either options seemed hopeless. Stoick the Vast just doesn't change his mind.

_I mean I should know that first hand. I spent years trying to convince my father that my place was to be a forensic scientist. I even tried to pass the different tests for being detective to please him and the poor results I had should have been proof enough that I wasn't detective material. Even if now I am a recognized forensic scientist with many accomplishment, he still can't understood that it is my calling._

As Hiccup entered in the forensic lab, he let out a deep sigh that caught the attention of Gobber.

"What's going on lad? Why the long sigh?"

Hiccup threw an angry eye at him.

"Oh I don't know. My dad just told me that I had to partner with Astrid on the Night Fury case. Any idea how that happened?"

"Well lad I can't say I don't. You father and I had a little talk about that case."

"I know, he told me. Why me? You, of all people, should know that I am no detective material."

"Exactly my thought lad. Exactly my thought." said Gobber stroking his shin, a mysterious grin on his face.

Hiccup raised an eyebrow at this unexpected answer. "Care to tell me why the mysterious air or you just like to leave me hanging?"

His grin grew larger.

"Again I can't say I don't." Suddenly serious again, Gobber began to explain.

"Actually lad, I proposed that for two reasons. The first one, you heard it from you father. I genuinely think that regular detective work will never helped to catch that guy. His powers are not fake as we all saw yesterday. This Night Fury character have some real power and we can really use your intellect to apprehend him or understood his power. You are by far the best scientist of this lab."

Hiccup felt himself blushed at the compliment.

"I am sure you could..."

"You know that I am not the compliment type. I meant it when I told your father that you would be better than me. It leads me to the second reason I have proposed that you partner with Astrid."

He took a pause for suspense and finally said

"It is your once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to prove your father wrong."

Hiccup frowned at that statement.

"What do you mean to prove my father wrong? I thought that he wanted me to partner with her so that I would be inspired by her detective work or something."

Gobber grinned, feeling quite proud of himself.

"That's what _he_ thinks. But it could also show him that, after his best detective failed to catch Night Fury, you, Hiccup, the ordinary forensic scientist he thinks you are, managed to catch him thanks to your brain and competence in forensic. It ought to teach him how great you really are at what you're doing. And you don't know, he might actually be proud of you!"

Hiccup snorted at the suggestion.

"Yeah! Like it would happen in this century."

It reminded Gobber of his last discussion with Stoick.

_'What I am gonna do with him Gobber? He never listens to me.'_

_'Put him on the Night Fury case.'_

_'He will be killed before he even hit the street!'_

_'You don't know that.'_

_'I do.'_

_'No you don't!'_

_'Yes I do. He has the attention span of a sparrow. I take him to the Police Plaza around detectives and he goes playing around in the forensic lab.'_

_'This Forensic lab actually does make a difference in the world, you know that Stoick.'_

_'You remember our detective days Gobber, it is not making the same difference. When I was a boy...'_

_'Here we go again'_

_'... my father took me to the police station. It was crazy all day long, but it taught me what a cop can do. He can crush criminals, bring people on the same justice level and tame scorching criminals.'_

_Stoick calmed down a bit as he thought back to Hiccup._

_'Even as a boy I knew who I was, who I had to become. Hiccup is not that boy.'_

_'He is not but you can't stop it Stoick, you need Hiccup on the Night Fury case.'_

_Stoick raised an eyebrow like Hiccup often do. Gobber ignored him as he continued._

_'You can't stop Night Fury or prevent him from going in the street. You saw that he is not a fake and we can't understand him. Hiccup could. You can't always be there to protect him. Night Fury is going to get out there again. He's probably out there now.'_

_'And you think Hiccup can make a difference. He is only a lab rat. If it was forensic that is needed, you would be a better man for the job Gobber.'_

_'No, I would not. You should be proud of your boy, Stoick. He has a gift, he is by far the best of the lab. He might be the best god damn forensic scientist of the country.'_

_This statement was received only by the doubtful face of Stoick._

Gobber let out another sigh at the memory. "It is worth a try lad. You never know." And with a sight, he got back to his office.

With a sad smile, Hiccup thought at what Gobber had said.

_Somehow I doubt that my father would be proud if Night Fury is caught._

* * *

Astrid was still lingering on her previous assault of Hiccup and what he said to her.

_How could anyone not want to be on the Night Fury case? It's the biggest case in the history of the BCPD. Lots of cops dream of having this case. Especially since the hostage situation, where it has been proven once and for all that Night Fury is no hoax, and that he is likely to be just one person. You catch that one person once, be it by luck or by talent, and it is nearly a sure track to the post of Commissioner. But even if no real progresses are made, you could justify it by the fact that we don't have superpowers like him or that you don't have the necessary equipment to catch him. You can't be blamed on lack of competence if there is no progress._

Not that she took this case for such pity reason. She had a personal interest in this case.

She shook her head, trying to focus herself on what she had so far on Night Fury. Very little if she had to be honest. Her most promising clue was the video of the news crew and some rare video surveillance outside the bank. The video of the news crew was the cleanest and longest footage they had so far of Night Fury. And it lasted a full total of 16 seconds between the time he entered the bank, the hostages left and he finally exited the bank, disappearing after facing the crowd.

_It took him 16 seconds to solve a 6 six hours stalemate situation. Bastard!_

She closed the video of the bank. She didn't think she could get anything done as she was right now.

_Maybe Harold will have more luck._

Again she wondered why he didn't want to work on this case.

_Moreover he would have the chance to work with me, Astrid Hofferson. Best detective of the BCPD since Stoick the Vast. I will catch Night Fury, that's for sure, and even if he had nothing to do with it, he would still get credits and a huge reputation boost whether I like it or not. To top it all, it seems like he would have a personal interest in it for him, seeing as he would make his father proud and it seems like he could use it. So why did he seem so unhappy about this assignment?_

"What's up babe? You're troubled because you already miss me?" Astrid grunted.

_Erk! Not Snotlout again?! It must be like the tenth time he tries to hit on me today!_

"Get lost Snotlout!" Astrid hissed. "The last thing I need today is to stomach another one of your pathetic attempt at flirting."

The five and half foot tall dark haired man that stood by Astrid desk seemed to ignore her remark. Rare were those who did that.

"Come on babe ..."

"I am not your babe"

"Partner, I know you can't resist the Snotlout's magic." he happily declared, an overconfident smile plastered on his face.

Astrid cringed.

_Does he really think that his smile does it for me?_

"You know that you no longer are my partner right?"

It seemed like it finally did the trick of making his stupid grin disappear of his face.

"Yeah, I heard that Stoick had made my dumb cousin your new partner." He smiled as if he understood something. "But don't worry babe. I know that's why you are in such a bad mood today. You're disappointed that I'm no longer your partner and that my dumb cousin is."

Before Astrid could respond, he put his finger over her mouth and start saying in what he thought was his most comforting voice

"Ssh... poor thing. If you want, you can cry on my shoulder."

Instead, he found himself laying on the floor with a vicious punch in his guts and a twisted finger. Astrid watched with a satisfied smile her former partner trying to get back on his feet, awkwardly attempting to hide his obvious pain at Astrid punch.

_How could those two be related? They look like opposites. I mean Harold is like a skinny nerd in loose clothes and a lab jacket while Snotlout is a beefy moron with always two-size-too-small clothes._

The sudden thought made her think that she actually knew nothing of her new 'partner' besides how he looked like.

"Eh Snotlout!"

He looked up at her, still half-standing, with expectation in his mud colored eyes.

"What can tell me about Harold?"

He looked confused at who she was talking about.

"Oh! You mean my cousin Hiccup!"

"That's Hiccup?! The guy responsible for the fire in the lab a few months ago?"

"Yep that's him. This idiot apparently managed to put the lab on fire while passing out, and as a result he barely survived but lost his leg."

Astrid frowned at that.

_He lost his leg?!_

Astrid was mad at herself. She always took pride in how much of a keen observant she was, and she didn't even noticed that the guy was missing _a freaking leg?!_

_How did I missed that? I mean how did he managed to hide that? The guy doesn't even limper. Even now that I know that he is missing a leg, I still wouldn't be able to tell which one! Okay, now I am pissed._

Oblivious to Astrid's reaction, he continued.

"Anyway he is basically a talking fishbone that thinks that he is really smart. He and Stoick argue a lot about how he should be a detective. But I know better. He clearly isn't detective material. Once he tried to pass the detective tests, and he like totally blew every physical test. He couldn't run two miles and lift more than thirty pounds. He is just useless, and he think he could actually helped on cases with all his fancy experiments he makes."

Astrid rolled her eyes at Snotlout last sentence.

_He is a moron that think that, just because you didn't put the cuffs at the guy, you didn't help on the case at all. He still doesn't understand that most of his cases are mostly solved by forensics._

Astrid knew that Harold, or Hiccup apparently, was not that useless. Even if she didn't really know him, she remembered the guy for handling the forensics of some cases of hers. It seemed like he always did a decent job.

_I mean he cannot be much worse that Snotlout._

"But enough talking about Hiccup, babe. How about you and I go dinner together tonight, and who knows what could happen?"

The look in his eye was more than suggestive about what he thought could happen.

_Erk! I need to get out of here, and try to forgot about that day and Snotlout._

"Sorry, I already got plans." said Astrid in a falsely apologizing voice.

While Snotlout was pouting, Astrid left her desk and quickly walked away of the detective squad.

_I wonder what Ruffnut is doing tonight._

* * *

Once at home, while closing the door, Hiccup called for Toothless.

"Hey Toothless! I am home!"

The only response he got was a loud yawn from the said Toothless, lazily lying near the radiator.

"Glad to see you too, you big baby boo!"

He couldn't help his sarcastic voice. Toothless barely raised an eyebrow at the denomination. His way of saying: _'Really? Big baby boo? You will go with that?'_

Hiccup stomped away, grumbling loudly something like "Nobody gets my humor."

After he made sure that his big lazy pet got enough to eat, he went to his workshop where he was working on all the crazy ideas he got along the years.

"Don't bother me Toothless, I got things that I need to work on!" and he grinned to himself as he pictured Toothless laying on the floor.

_As if he would move his lazy ass._

It was a good thing for him that tonight Toothless wasn't in one of his spree, one when he just had to always nagged him to play with him. Because tonight was a big test run for Night Fury.

He'd been working on it for a few month now, but since his father had declared war on Night Fury, he had decided to use it. It was time to up his game.

No longer laying low, he now had to sign his every rescue. It was his only way to prove to his father that Night Fury was actually doing some good, and was not some amateurish vigilante. And he had just the way to do that.

He had been working on it for 4 weeks straight, trying to fix a flaw in his upgraded mask, but now, that flaw would prove itself useful. When he had discovered his power, he had discovered that he had two major limitations. First was his leg. It was a big give away about who could be behind the mask. So at first he made himself another peg leg that was imitating nearly perfectly a real one, if you didn't look at the bare metal. Behind some pants and boots, it seemed like a real one with muscles and bones. And for the days he was just Hiccup, he would use his regular one, that was mostly a stick with a fake foot. But in the end, it was always a bother to switch legs every time he changed himself, moreover he also had to keep it near his costume which made it very difficult to conceal. So he decided to make both peg legs into one: by pivoting a disk near the knee in his modified stick and fake foot leg, a reinforced metallic fake muscle layer would slide down, creating a metallic imitation of muscle.

His biggest give away was now his biggest asset to concealing his identity. Who could guess that a cripple was the fastest man alive?

His second limitation was that, when he moved at high speed, the noise and voices around him was deformed because of the Doppler effect. And it was essential to hear it correctly to be able to help people. He also needed to hear the police radio. That is why he had added the fins on his helmet.

The two big ones on his ears were receptors for the police radio. The smaller fins in three rows starting from the slits of his eyes to the back of his head were antennas to capture the surrounding sounds and compensate the Doppler effect. The problem was that they needed to vibrate in order to compensate the Doppler effect, and the faster he was going the faster they were vibrating, creating a loud high-pitched noise. When he had tried it before it was as if a shrieking scream was following him. Not great for stealth.

But now it was different. It was going to be his signature mark. The scream of the Night Fury. The warning before the strike that would never miss.

To finish it all he had added in the mask a little something he had originally made to improve forensics. Augmented reality glasses with voice command connected to his forensic database. It was able to recognize faces, wounds, explosives and weapons by using the BCPD database. He called it T.T. for Terrible Terror, and for some reason he found it cool. Tonight was his final adjustments to make it work with high speeds, and putting the glasses on the slits.

_It's going to be amazing._

"Well! Now all it is left to do is to go on patrol."

* * *

So far the night had been rather quiet. Just three mugging and a pickpocket. The shrieking scream worked wonders. It really scared the muggers after they saw that each time they heard it, one of them was taken down. Once the situation was resolved, he stopped to ask the victim to call the police. He had never done it before and he was doing that for two purpose.

_First, that way the criminals will be charged. If I had just call the police to tell them, I doubt that they would have believed my word.' Hiccup sighted. 'It could really be a pain in the ass later if I don't solve the situation with my father fast._

The second reason is that the victims will know that it was Night Fury that saved them. They will know from now on that this shrieking scream is the scream of the Night Fury. They will know that I am not far.

For the pickpocket I just gave him a good scare after giving back what he stole. It is not like the victim saw him stole him and again the police wouldn't have believed my word.

His thought were cut off by an unusual call on the police radio.

"To all units we have an 11-99 on Adams and 3rd. Request immediate backup. To all units I repeat we have an 11-99 ..."

_11-99! Officer in immediate danger! I better get there fast._

"T.T. the fastest way to Adams and 3rd." A plan immediately appeared with an itinerary to the location on the corner of his left eye, and a gold line guiding him appeared over the road he was seeing with his right eye.

_Oh yeah! It is amazing._

12 miles in 4 seconds later, he found 5 men closing on the corner of a dumpster where he guessed the officer was hiding . The two on the side had guns pointed to the corner of the dumpster while the others had hunting knives in their hands. The one closest to the dumpster was beginning to unbuckle his belt.

_Let's bring the fear of the Night Fury into them._

"What's the ..."

One down.

"Joe!"

"The f*ck!"

"Who's there?"

Two down.

"ARG!"

"Mother f..."

Three down.

Shots fired.

Grand final.

The silence came back. Only some grunting and cries of pain could be heard.

_Phew ... So much for a quiet night._

"ASSHOLE!"

Hiccup turned over to face who was shouting at him.

It was Astrid. She opened fire.

* * *

**If you spotted mistakes that hurt your eyes, please feel free to point it to me in the link in my profile page so that I correct it and prevent others to be hurt too. ^^**


	3. Chapter 3 - Wrath of a Walkyrie

**Hiccup in a Flash, chap 3**

**I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or its characters, just merely borrowing the characters for an adventure of my own.**

**Thanks for all the people following the story and reviewing it. It really means a lot to me.**

**Also I wanted to apologize for any English mistakes I made. I try to correct them as I found them but again English is NOT my mother tongue. Please tell me when I make mistakes or incorrectly use some expression, it would really help me.**

**Please enjoy yourself with this fanfic ^^**

**\- Chapter 3: Wrath of a Valkyrie**

* * *

Let's go back a few hours before the call that led Hiccup in that back alley. Astrid was reminiscing the call she made to Astrid as she left the BCPD.

_"Hey Ruff! What are you doing tonight?"_

_"""Oh I don't know, the usual why?"""_

_"So that I meet you there."_

_"""Ouch girl! You had such a bad day?"""_

_"Don't get me started. It was at least an eight out of ten."_

_"""Okay girl, you can tell me all about it when you get there. Can't wait, sounds fun."""_

_Astrid winced. Ruffnut always had a weird definition of fun._

_"Okay, I gotta go. See you there."_

_'At least I should be able to get some steam off.'_

Astrid grunted at the memory.

_So much for letting some steam off._

Ruffnut was, as usual on a Thursday night, at the bar called _The Forge_ on the 3rd. It was a nice cozy place, a bit Irish, and with some good cold cheap beer. It was also the favorite hunting spot of Ruffnut. As it was quite far away from the Police Plaza, she was sure that she wouldn't meet any fellow cops. That way when Astrid and her would get there after a rough day, they would be no chance of meeting the object of their frustration or of being flirted at by them. And Astrid was there more often that she cared to admit. Usually, she would complain about how much of a moron and a jerk her partner Snotlout was, especially after his umpteenth pathetic attempt at hitting on her, or about how some other cops had made the poor decision of getting in her way.

But not today. Of course, as always, she complained about Snotlout hitting on her again, it was actually what had convinced her to came that night. But that time her main complaints had been on Hiccup and Night Fury. After two chops of beer as a warm-up, she was telling Ruffnut how this dumb new partner of hers dared to hide from her that he was missing a leg and, after taking another beer, how she would have to work with him and share the credit for capturing this asshole of Night Fury, that she would obviously catch on her own.

"Can you believe it?! He actually is my partner now! And I had no say in it! Nada! Zip! Stoick was particularly clear on that. I believe his exact words were: _it is not up to discussion_. And he even said that him and Gobber couldn't leave the Night Fury case to me anymore as I made _no progress._ Now I have to take care of a scrawny little nerd with a metal leg that will just get in my way!"

Astrid took a generous gulp at her chop of beer, third of the name.

Ruffnut grinned, it was always so much fun to watch Astrid complain like that.

"And do you know what the worse was?" Ruffnut gestured to her that she didn't. "Stoick only spoke to him. Like he was trying to convince HIM to work with ME, the best detective of the squad! As if Hiccup was the one doing a favor. Hell, I AM the one doing a favor here!"

"Well, it could have been even worse."

Astrid looked at her questioningly.

"Your new partner could have been my brother."

Astrid cringed at the idea. Her twin brother, Detective Tom Thorston aka Tuffnut, was a real nut case, no pun intended. No one knew how he managed to pass the detective tests but somehow he had made it. He and Ruffnut were partners and, surprisingly, they formed quite a good combo. Especially when interrogating suspects. They played their own unique version of good cop/bad cop: crazy cop and even crazier cop. They often had fights over who would got to play crazier cop.

But all in all, Ruffnut was socially less disturbed than her brother, and she and Astrid had a strange, but working on its own way, friendship. They had been friends since sophomore year in high school, and a pattern had quickly appeared. Astrid complained to her, she made of fun her and somehow Astrid was a little less mad. That's how it worked for them.

"Just kill me now! You must be the only one who can actually stand working with him!"

A large smile spread on Ruffnut face.

"You might be right! Even if I think that he might be able to work quite well with Snotlout. At least without pushing Snotlout to murder. Did you know that they often spend time together? Apparently those two have somehow developed a friendship of their own."

"A bit like us." added Astrid.

Astrid gave a long fond look at her smiling friend. Ruffnut, or officially known as Detective Rachel Thorston, was a cheerful girl with a disturbing liking for explosions. A bit taller than Astrid, she had long blond hair with rustic braids on each side of her head. Her triangular face was accentuating her sky blue eyes where you could always spot an hint of both madness and amusement. Altogether it created a quite surprising sight, but that seemed to do the trick for a lot of men, seeing as she was the most courted woman of the BCPD. Only those with a death wish or brain dead dared to court Astrid. In the street however, where no one really knew her, Astrid was by far the most courted one. Back in high school, Ruffnut saw it as a challenge and began hanging out with Astrid. Rivals and yet somehow friends, Astrid quickly grew a soft spot for her as she was the only one crazy enough to dare telling it to her straight with all the teasing she was capable of, and yet sane enough to actually be the voice of reason during Astrid's frequent outbursts of anger.

_She might be the only one that I would miss after I killed her. Because let's face it. She will push me to murder._

"Anyway where was I again?"

"Complaining?" Offered Ruffnut with a smirk, she could guess what had passed her mind.

"Yeah, right."

She seemed to think for a moment to remember what she was complaining about but it didn't take long, seeing as anger once again made its way to her face.

"And now I have to bring him to ALL my cases and he is supposed to _"help me"_ on the Night Fury case. I bet he's just gonna give me some dumb advice and pretend that he knows what he is doing."

She stopped as she seemed to remember something.

"But strangely enough, he apparently doesn't want to work on that case at all. Can you believe that?"

"Well, that's strange. Why doesn't he want to work on it?"

Ruffnut agreed with Astrid. It was effectively weird. Even her wanted to work on it.

"How the hell should I know? I barely know the guy!"

"You do know that he's been around you since primary school, right?"

"WHAT?! What the hell are you talking about?"

"You don't remember? The guy even sat next to you for a year in 6th grade!"

Astrid frowned.

_How did I missed that? I thought I was observant! It's already been twice that I failed to notice something about him in just a few hours!_

She vaguely remembered she had a skinny kid sitting next to her. But at the time she decided to ignore him because he had better grade than her, and nobody should. Vaguely uncomfortable, she decided to drop the subject.

"Anyhow we're supposed to work side by side and how would he even be able to help me? He probably can't even catch criminals! He has a peg leg for God's sake!"

Ruffnut tried to smooth her as apparently she knew Hiccup better than her.

"I am not sure if it really is a problem. I mean, he seems to do perfectly fine when he is working. Sure nobody have seen him running, but in general you don't even notice that he is missing a leg."

Astrid grunted at the memory.

"Yeah you're right, you don't notice."

She completed for herself.

_And why it is so frustrating?_

"Plus on the good side, he is kind of cute!" Ruffnut added cheerfully.

Astrid came close to spitting her whole beer upon hearing that, nearly choking herself to death.

"W -Wha -What the hell are you saying?! What's does it even have to do with what I am saying?!"

And with a glare she added

"And since when do you go for the skinny nerd type?"

"Come on Astrid! Don't tell me that the Great Detective Astrid Hofferson didn't noticed that!"

Upon the puzzled look on Astrid, Ruffnut started to ramble on a detailed description of Hiccup Haddock with dreamy eyes.

"He has a soft creamy skin and delicious freckles teasing his cheeks and neck. And the way he always acts like a true gentleman! Once he saw me while I was ventilating my shirt and looked away, blushing like crazy. Sooo much different that the detective of the squad with constant lust in their eyes, thinking themselves irresistible. And I don't know what he did while he was in reeducation, but girl, that did him some good. Ever since he came back from the hospital after his lab accident, he's been different, and I mean different good. He's no longer a tall skinny nerd. He is still a nerd but one with well-shaped lean muscles in all the good places. You can actually see all his muscles through his shirt that he still thinks is too large for him. But you'll be able to see all that for yourself from now on, don't you girl?"

She added with a significant wink to Astrid. Before Astrid could protest, she started to ramble on again.

"And his impossibly soft brown hair... hmmm, Mama likes it! When he arrived at the plaza, his hair are always in such a perfect mess, you know the kind that all the guy try to do but fail? He just always has them fluffy like that, as if he came to work flying. And don't get me started on his eyes! God, those eyes! Those big shiny impossibly green eyes. I swear, if you stare at it for too long you could hear birds singing in the forest."

With a daydreaming gaze, she stared at her mind picture of Hiccup floating in the air. Truth be told it might be a bit different from reality. Then she turned to meet the eyes of a slightly blushed Astrid. Feeling a teasing opportunity wasn't far, Ruffnut pushed her luck.

"Still think he isn't cute?"

Astrid's blush went two shades redder.

_Did I really failed to notice all that? There is just no way. But now that I think about it, I might have felt some muscle when I pinned him on the wall._

Blushing even more, she tried to defend herself in her mind.

"Well I did notice his eyes."

She froze. She didn't mean to say it out loud. Ruffnut just wouldn't miss such a chance to tease her.

And sure enough she was right. Ruffnut's beaming grin instantly made Astrid regrets her words.

"Oh really? Well that's something! Astrid Hofferson noticed that a guy was cute! I don't think it has ever happened before."

A tomato could have been jealous of Astrid cheeks.

"Shut up! I never said he was cute, I just think he has nice eyes."

Seeing as she was further digging her own grave, she decided to switch tactics.

"However isn't that you that seem to be ready to marry him Ruff?"

Offense was more her style than defense.

But Ruffnut shuddered indifferently, not phased at all.

"Well I just said he was cute. He is the kind of thing I like to stared at to pass time. Sometimes I tease him a bit but never more. He isn't really what I want for myself. Nerds are fine and all but, personally, I prefer my men to be more... men of action, if you know what I mean"

She added that last part with a more than suggestive look.

Astrid didn't think that she had blushed that much in years. Rather than risking being the object of more teasing by Ruffnut, she decided that her beer would surely be more of a friend to her right now. After all, the two previous ones had been there for her.

Sadly that one got killed too, leaving Astrid grunting once again.

"Don't worry As. I will get one for you."

Seeing as Astrid was about to protest she completed her offer with a large smile, saying.

"Think of it as a peace offering."

Astrid nodded to her while mumbling something in lines of _"You better do"_.

* * *

"I will kill her."

Astrid was staring at her phone blankly. Even the small text seemed to be taunting her.

_Sorry As_

_Cute guy_

_Got to go_

_So apparently Ruff managed to lose herself, between here and the bar, to the table of a cute guy for the past half hour._

She was fuming. If it had been just Ruffnut, she could have taken it. She would have been pissed at her the next morning, maybe punched her two or three times, but that would have been all. Now she was having vision of murder. In the past 30 minutes that Ruffnut had been away, Astrid at been hit on five times. Each time by an even lousier and drunker man with lines that were just as smooth as her temper. Just what she wanted after an already bad day, it to be brought to even deeper depth of horribleness after having to support a clingy Snotlout all day as he learned that he was no longer her partner.

_And here comes another one. Just when I thought the day couldn't get worse._

"Eh there, babe! I couldn't help but notice that you were sitting here alone. Maybe I can make your day better."

She rolled her eyes.

_Smooth. And he dared winked at me._

Well above 200 pounds, in working boots and a shirt that once had been blue, he put his hand on the table, revealing the tattoo of an ancient heavy gate, and tried to take what he thought was his best pose. He reeked of alcohol and his less than clean shirt couldn't hide enough of his drunken protuberance.

_Charming_

"It is on purpose that I am sitting alone, I can assure you. I'm really not seeking company right now. And I wouldn't advise you to try and stay around, it might bite you in the ass, hard."

She then contemplated her empty chop.

Should I order another one? It really isn't my day.

"Woo, someone is feeling bitty."

He was proud of his joke.

"I like it."

His assurance in his charm made him miss the glare that she was now giving to him. Any person with half a mind would have taken the hint, backing off immediately if he cared for his life. But drunk Tattoo Guy, as she decided to call him, didn't seem to have much of a mind, even sober.

"You know, I can be very persuasive. Maybe I can change your mind about staying alone..."

And this was when he pushed his luck a bit too far, his hand tried to reach Astrid's hand that wasn't on her beer. To much of his surprise, he found his hand stopped flat on the table, pinned by Astrid's raging chop, an inch away from her other hand.

"F*CK! That's HURT! YOU BITCH!"

And there came big mistake n°2. He tried to punch her. Astrid dodged his fist by a large margin, _Man! I'm drunker than I thought,_ and punched him hard on the solar plexus. Instead of being thrown onto his back, a feet away on the ground, as she expected to, he only moved back a step, bent in two in obvious pain.

_Yep! Definitively drunk. I better get home now._

Royally ignoring the whimpering of Tattoo Guy, she went by the door under the incredulous look of the rest of the bar.

The night was quite fresh but it didn't bother Astrid. On the contrary, it was helping her cooling down the frustration of the day and sober up a bit. It was a calm night.

Some half melted ice crunched not far behind her. Out of habits, Astrid checked out what it was.

"Sh*t."

It was Tattoo Guy and four of his friends. She recognized two of them, they were other _"suitors"_ of hers at the bar. After they saw what she was capable of, they had decided not to take a risk. Two of them were trying to hide guns under their jacket while the other three, led by her last "suitor", Tattoo Guy, were openly showing their hunting knives.

Shit, shit, shit. I am in no state to face them directly.

She looked around trying to see where she was. She knew nearly all the streets of the city. She was now approaching Adams Street. If her memory served her right, and it usually did, on her left would be a small back alley where she could hide behind a dumpster. Hoping they didn't notice that she had made them, she started dialing.

_"""911. What's your emergency?"""_

"This is Detective Hofferson, badge number 8792. I am at the angle of 3rd and Adams and I am being followed by armed men with the clear intention of aggressing me. I request immediate backup to my location."

_"""Roger. Units are on your way."""_

She arrived at the angle. It was now or never.

"Be quick, I might need it really fast."

Then she hanged up and ran into the alley. She heard swearing and loud noises as they were starting to run after her. She knew she wouldn't be able to lose them in her state and hid behind the dumpster. Silently she took out her off-duty weapon and waited.

Tattoo Guy was smarter that she had given him credit for. He immediately understood that she couldn't have disappeared and was surely hiding behind the dumpster. Astrid discreetly risked a look to see what was going on.

_F*ck!_

He had positioned the two man with guns on the other side of the alley for cover, in case she tried something, while the others were advancing to meet her. Tattoo Guy walked slowly towards her, a mix of arrogance and lust in the eye, one hand holding firmly his hunting knife while the other was slowly unbuckling his belt.

_If it all goes down to that I won't go without a fight._

A determined look on her face, Astrid was ready to charge.

Then a high-pitched scream was heard.

Despite her best intention, curiosity got the best of her and she risked another look.

"What the ..."

A blur brushed one of her _"suitors"_ armed with a gun. He flew for a good yard and fell on the floor, done for the count.

"Joe!"

"The f*ck!"

"Who's there?"

The same loud scream was heard again.

The second of her _"suitors"_ that was staying in the back with a knife, was thrown onto the wall next to him by another black blur.

"ARGHH!"

Now on the floor, he was moaning in pain.

The other guy in the back, also with a knife, was now yelling. "Mother f..."

He got cut off by another scream and the same blur made him meet the same fate as her first _"suitor"_.

The remaining aggressor beside Tattoo Guy began to shoot blindly with his gun, hoping to shoot whatever was attacking them.

As Tattoo Guy was about to yell at him to stop, she heard the now familiar scream.

She watched baffled as a shadow began to rapidly spin the gunman and then suddenly threw him head first into the genitals of Tattoo Guy, straight into his unbuckled belt buckle, inflicting sharp pain at both the gunman's head and Tattoo Guy's soft spot.

Then the silence came back. Only disturbed by some grunting and cries of pain.

Then Astrid noticed who was standing where the gunman had been.

_Night Fury._

Again he had done it. Suddenly surged in her an anger than could match a valkyrie's wrath.

_I got my case stolen, I have been flirted at endlessly, I felt ridiculed numerous time, I was abandoned to drink alone in a bar at the mercy of losers, I got nearly raped and now that?!_

She was fuming. She had more than enough steam in her to rival a steam boat and she just happened to know the perfect way to blow off a huge deal of it.

Quickly leaving from the corner of the dumpster, she yelled at him.

"ASSHOLE!"

Night Fury turned over to face her. She opened fire.

* * *

Hiccup was shocked.

_Astrid?! Wait! Did she just shoot at me? Wait! Does that mean that she was the officer in immediate danger?! Why couldn't she take care of it herself, it's not like... Oh shit! I forgot the bullet!_

Escaping of his trance, he barely dodge the bullet which grazed his helmet instead of making another slits between his eyes.

_Whoa! That was close!_

Astrid fired again, shooting bullet after bullet.

_Whoa there!_

Dodged.

_Okay! Note to self:..._

Dodged.

_... Stop staring at the girl..._

Dodged.

_...when she is shooting at you._

Dodged.

_Especially when..._

Dodged.

_...She is such a sharp shooter._

Her colt was now empty.

As she expected, he had easily dodged all her bullets. She grinned thinking that apparently her first one gave him more difficulty. She was feeling better now.

Being cautious of using a voice in a deeper tone than his own, a cool trick he learned to do by vibrating his vocal cords, he yelled at her.

"What the hell was that for?!"

Astrid hid her surprise upon hearing his voice. She hadn't imagined it would be that low. After all, even if he was tall, he didn't have a massive built. It just sounded fake for someone that slim. Now sure that he was using a device to mask his voice, she got madder at him and gave him a dirty look.

"You do know that you are a criminal right?"

He seemed like he didn't expect that answer.

"How am I a criminal? I haven't broken the law so far!"

Astrid raised her eyebrow.

"And speed limits?"

Hiccup strangled a laugh.

_Is she serious?_

His next answer was exuding irony.

"Yeah, and I am sure you're just the kind that can't stop herself from shooting someone when he speeds over the limit."

Astrid chuckled at the joke despite herself.

_He is kind of funny._

Hiccup was surprised to hear Astrid chuckled.

_Did Astrid Hofferson just chuckle at my joke?!_

Quickly she regained control of herself and started speaking in a low and menacing tone.

"And I suppose you know that I am also the kind that catch criminals."

"I know. It is unbelievable how much we have in common."

Hiccup didn't mean to say it but he just couldn't help himself. It was rare that he found someone that would get his jokes. She scowled at him while obviously trying to stop herself from smiling.

"You are so not funny. But I guess you have time to improve yourself until next time."

"Next time?"

"When I will catch you."

With a grin so large that she could feel it through his mask, he answered.

"Or when I will save you."

And before she could start yelling at him, he had disappeared in a flash, leaving a fuming Astrid.

"You can only run for so long."

She once again promised herself that she would catch that guy. She then walked to 3rd street to welcome the police cars coming her way.

* * *

**If you spotted mistakes that hurt your eyes, please feel free to point it to me in the link in my profile page so that I correct it and prevent others to be hurt too. ^^**


	4. Chapter 4 - Training session

**Hiccup in a Flash, chap 4**

**I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or its characters, just merely borrowing the characters for an adventure of my own.**

**Thanks for all the people following the story and reviewing it. It really means a lot to me.**

**I also would like to thanks a lot CreativeRoadBlock for helping me correct my mistakes.**

**Please enjoy yourself with this fanfic ^^**

**\- Chapter 4: Training session**

* * *

The detective office was nearly empty. A few detectives were wrapping up some cases but otherwise it seemed to had been a quiet night. Well almost. The appearance of Night Fury last night did not go unnoticed. A detective at the desk just to the side of Hiccup's was discussing with his partner about how Astrid Hofferson had apparently been face-to-face with Night Fury, and rumors said that she was in one hell of a mood.

Hiccup was seating at his new desk, facing Astrid's desk. She told him to be there first thing in the morning and he wouldn't give her more ammunition to be mad at him. He was sure he would have plenty of other opportunities for that later. He was still trying to wrap his mind around what happened last night. Man she was pissed! Then he smiled, thinking about how he let her fuming in the street. That had been quite fun. All in all he quite of enjoyed his meeting with Astrid. Minus the part where she shot at him, several times. He wondered why she didn't take on her assailants herself.

_I mean it's not like she's ever needed help before. She nearly always ditched her partner in majors cases and came back having solved the case. Once, she had arrested a whole gang of armed-robbers single-handedly. It composed of 15 of the toughest thugs in Berk! So why did she called for back up for just five attackers?_

He started to mumble for himself, pondering why she ask for help.

Then his mind started going off on tangents, pondering how he could improve the response time of the Terrible Terror and how he should had a vocal command to turn off Thunderdrum (that's the name he'd finally decided on for the Doppler-effect canceling device). Last night he realized that he couldn't turned it off and it wasn't without consequences. He couldn't just get home in a flash like he used to, because that would mean going back to his apartment followed by the now trademark scream of Night Fury. He had to walk discreetly in his costume from 3 blocks away and pray that nobody would woke up in his buildings while he was trying as silently as possible to go back in his apartment. He didn't really want to explain what Night Fury was doing in the building, sneakily trying to enter an apartment. And he was sure as hell that he didn't want to go through that every time he was out patrolling as Night Fury.

It was 10:15 when Astrid entered the detective office. Still a bit hungover from last night, she was trying to keep the headache to a minimum. She had decide to not wear shades, and was beginning to regret it. She was still mad from last night and the constant whispers she heard about how she was saved by Night Fury did nothing to improve her mood.

_When I finally managed to blow off some steam by shooting at him, that jerk just had to pissed me off before running away. And I still haven't begun to do the paperwork on it. She took a deep breath. This was going to be a bad day. Note to self: kill Ruff._

To top it all off she didn't even get much sleep, Stoick made her explain the incident to him, in vivid detail, three times before he let her leave. Apparently he personally came on each scene where Night Fury was reported being seen that night. He had questioned her a lot about him, hoping that with her detective training, she observed details that the former witnesses missed. He was particularly interested in his change of Modus Operanti, wondering why he suddenly stopped to talk and that 'scream' he heard so much about.

_He really want him bad. I better get on it with my new 'partner'._

She looked around to see if she can spot him. She found him at Snotlout's former desk, papers all over the place, working on what looked like designs and schematics.

_What a nerd. Probably some stuff for some nerd games._

Then she tried to look at him more attentively. His hair really does look soft. She began to blush furiously.

_Where the hell does that came from? Damn Ruff and her damn fantasy on he is super cute._

Then she remembered what Ruffnut told her with a significant wink.

_"But now you'll be able to see all that, don't you girl?"_

Again she blushed.

_Note to self: kill Ruff, slowly._

Then she walked at her desk, determined to get this over with.

Hiccup lift up his head from the schematics of one of his side project when he noticed Astrid approaching. Frowning and fists shut tight, she looked ready to blow up.

_Damn! She looks mad as hell! She looks ready to breathe fire._

Hesitantly he tried to start the conversion.

"Good morning Astrid."

She only grunted in response.

He quickly began to gather his papers to make place for her. He had gotten so lost in his thoughts that without realizing it he had spread his work across her desk as well. She just looked at him cleaning her desk, saying nothing, waiting for him to finish. Once he was done she sat down and began to look for some papers on her desk. Seeing how she was staying silent, he tried once more to break the ice.

"Are you okay? I heard that you were face to face with Night Fury last night."

Her eyes snapped up to meet his. Scowling at him, her ocean blue eyes were a clear reflection of a raging tempest, showing immense waves of anger and the furious lightning in her eyes was throwing daggers at him.

_Man! That's one hell of a bad mood. And I pretty sure that I am to blame. And I just had to make it worse._

He shrank under her gaze and tried to offer her an apologetic crooked smile.

_Why couldn't I have kept my mouth shut? Perfect way to start a partnership. Make fun of her with your alter-ego at night and rub it in her face the next morning. Brilliant job Hiccup._

Seeing him shy away from her glare, she tried to soften her gaze. After all, he was just worried about her. He looked at her sheepishly. His eyes were a perfect window for his feelings. Concern, worry, sadness, self-incrimination. She just couldn't stand that she was the one that put it there just because she was in a mad mood.

_It wasn't his fault that I am in such a mean mood. It is not like it was the one that made fun of me last night._

An hint of guilt became to spread like wild fire in her mind for attacking him twice in less than 24 hours.

In a low tone, she offered. "It's not your fault."

Hiccup's eyes nearly doubled in size.

_Did Astrid Hofferson just kind of apologized to me? I never heard her apologized before! Not in the decade I knew her. Damn! This week is just full of surprises. I wonder what could happen next? A bear let loose in the street maybe?_

Actually, the closest thing to that just passed the door. Commissioner Haddock was quickly making his way to them. He looked tired, as if he had been up all night. He probably was thought Astrid when she noticed him. But at the same time his eyes were radiating a blaze of determination behind the gloss of fatigue, drawing everyone out of his way in a hurry. A wise man knows better that being on Stoick the Vast's way.

"ATTEN-HUT". Promptly every person in the squad got up to salute the Commissioner.

"As you were." He answered absentmindedly. "Hofferson, Harold, I need to speak to you. Privately."

Without looking back to see if they were following him he headed for an empty interrogation room. He waited for them to enter before closing the door. He gestured them to seat down before taking a seat across the table from them.

"Astrid, I want to thank you for all those information you gave me last night. It made it clear that Night Fury changed his ways and that we need to investigate that change" Astrid nodes at the remark while Hiccup frowned.

"Now as for what you did last night, I should normally suspend you and asked for an investigation."

This time both of them frowned.

"You opened fire at an unarmed man while being drunk. You know that's not admissible."

_So I see she was drunk. That's why she needed back up last night._

"But seeing that Night Fury couldn't be considered an unarmed man, or even a man if you want my opinion, _(Thanks for the support Dad! It always warms up my heart! thought Hiccup) _I am ready to overlook it this time. Instead you will have a week of your pay taken away."

Astrid looked relieved at hearing that. Shooting at an unarmed man while drunk was a major offense that could have quickly became ugly.

However Stoick gave her a stern look. "Let's be clear here Hofferson, that's a once in lifetime only thing. You're lucky that it was Night Fury and that nobody saw you. And the reason I haven't suspended you is that I need you in the Night Fury case. I can't afford to have my top detective off the street while he is still let loose, especially if it is his fault that you're out. It has nothing to do with my fondness for you. Did I made myself clear Hofferson?"

Stoick had always been fond of Astrid. She was like the son he always hoped Hiccup would be. Fierce, fearless, top detective and unmatched fighter. He had followed her progress since her interview to join the force. Stoick had been there as a examiner and he had been impressed by the determination she showed. It reminded him of himself when he was younger. After that she proved herself more than once and became one of the youngest detective of the history of BCPD. She make him proud and so he always been more exigent of her that the other young detectives that quickly made their way after her, or of any other detective for that matter. He always call Hofferson on official business but call her by her name, like with Hiccup, when they were discussing cases privately.

She would never admit it, but she was also thinking of Stoick as a father figure. She was always thankful to him for his trust in her and she wasn't about to betrayed that.

"Perfectly clear. It won't happened again." The cold determination in her eyes brought a smile to Stoick's lips._ Yep I can definitively trust her on it._ Then he added with one of his rare smile.

"Next you shoot at him, make sure you're not drunk and that you don't miss."

Hiccup tried his best to hide his cringe at that remark.

_Great! He just gave her permission for the Night Fury hunting season. Shoot at sight; ten points for a hit and twenty for a headshot. That should make my relation with Astrid easier!_

He couldn't hide his smug as he thought at his own joke and Stoick took it as an approval at his last words. Finally my son is growing up. He starts to understand the satisfaction at hunting down criminals. Then he turned to Astrid again.

"Now I want you to personally train Harold if we ever want him to be useful to us in this case, he needs to have real detective skills." And before she could protest, he added. "If anyone can make him a worthy detective, it is you. Look at what you did with the other detectives of your age. I know it is thanks to you that they all passed the detective tests at such a young age. There is no one better for the job than you."

She blushed at the unexpected series of compliment. Not knowing what to say, she just nodded.

"And Harold, I want you to follow her every instructions and to try to not be in her way. Astrid is an experienced detective that knows and I do not want you to slow her on such an important case."

Hiccup couldn't help but snort at the remark. "I thought at was here to help her, not the other way around."

Stoick gave him his trademark glare, he would not have his orders discussed.

He stood up from his chair and headed for the door. The conversation was over. As he was closing the door, he added to Astrid.

"Don't hesitated to be a bit rough with him."

The door closed behind him and Hiccup felt a cold shiver ran down his spine while a sadistic smile grew on Astrid's face.

Finally a good news in this lousy day, she thought as she turned to Hiccup.

_I may be able to let loose some frustration after all._

Before he could help himself, he said a bit to loud. "Tadada! I am dead."

* * *

Astrid glared viciously at Hiccup's metal leg as he was entering the training room. It was hard to miss in his shorts. It was basically a stick with a fake foot that was slightly decorated near the knee.

_ How did I miss that? It should have been obvious that his pants had been empty below the knee._

Shaking her head she decided to focus on instructed him about the exercise. As she was about to talk to him she realized that she didn't know how to call him.

_Hiccup or Harold? I mean Hiccup is kind of insulting but now that I know that Harold is Hiccup, it feels awkward to call him Harold. Everybody knowns him as Hiccup and calls him that, so I should too right? It won't hurt him right? _She frowned at her own thought._ I'll just ask him._

More aggressively that she thought she should, she asked "Hey, what should I call you? Hiccup or Harold?"

Hiccup looked at her surprised. He was taken aback by the question. Not once did anybody bother to ask him what he preferred to be called. Ever since the 'hiccup powder incident' people started to call him Hiccup and quickly only his father was still calling him Harold. At first he was embarrassed at the nickname, feeling insulted each time someone called him like that, especially his cousin. It was a reminder of another one of his failed experiment. But if the origin story of the name of his alter-ego taught him anything, it is that you don't choose your name. You lived with it. And he intended to do just that.

_So that the name Hiccup will no longer be associated to people to a funny experiment of a geek but to the incredible things I will be doing. Maybe. Someday. In the far future._

Finally reaching reality again, he answered Astrid.

"You can just call me Hiccup. For a while it annoyed me, now it just feels more natural. And I supposed I should call Astrid and not Hofferson like my dad."

He watched her nod silently at his pathetic attempt of a joke and saw her quickly shifting in a fighting stance. He tried to copy her stance and faced her. All day he tried to understand her but everything about her was confusing. He just couldn't get his head around her and could never predict her reactions. Like earlier at the shooting range.

After Stoick left the interrogation room, she took him at the shooting range downstairs. She then began to ramble on how that now that he would do some detective work, he would have to be equipped to do detective work. It meant a badge and a gun. And as he now had to carry a gun, he would better start learning how to use it correctly. And that mean shooting training. And it was definitively NOT his strong suit.

In the range, with a target 20 yards away, he put his first bullet 4 yards on the left of the target. And he nearly felt on his ass because of the recoil. He knew that the recoil was supposed to be strong but didn't expect it to be this strong. It always looked so easy when thugs were shooting at him. On his second shot he stayed rather steady but somehow the bullet ended up in the roof. His other shots didn't had much success either. Suddenly, less than twelve hours after her last try, Astrid took a shot at him. Well not really at him per say, but still too close for Hiccup taste.

Astrid, frustrated to watch him always missed his target by at least a yard, decided to show him how it was done. While he was taking his time to aim, she moved a few steps behind him and started shooting. She emptied her gun a few inches over Hiccup's shoulder in the target, not missing a shot. All of them were bull's eyes for either the heart or the head of the target. Hiccup was shocked at what she just did.

_Why does she always have to shoot in my way?!_

She would not have traded his reaction right now for anything in the world. He just stared, his face a combination of awe and horror. That just made her day a whole lot better.

"What are you? Crazy?! You could have shot me!"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Do you honestly think that I would miss the target?"

Hiccup looked away, unable to answer her question. Even if he was mad as hell, he just couldn't lie to her and said that he actually thought that she could miss her target. She smiled at his absence of response, knowing that she just won the argument.

_God! I love teasing him! It make me feel so much better._

Hiccup also noticed that he just lost the argument. Grumbling, he tried to protest weakly.

"Well, I'm still pretty sure that it is against the regulation to start firing at your partner."

Smirking, she turned away and began to reload her weapon.

Before she decided to shoot even closer to his shoulder for the heck of it, he focused on the target and took aim. Alright it is just simple newtonian physics, it is just a question of angle. He fired. About a yard to the left and three-inch higher he mentally corrected. He fired again. Four inches to the right and two lower. He fired again and touch the edge of the target. He was still knocked back every time by the recoil of the gun but he was starting to get the hang of it. He kept correcting his aim methodically until he shoot a bullet right between the eyes of the target. She watched him shoot the target blankly and said nothing. He is still holding his gun wrong but he is definitively getting better. With proper training he could be a good shooter. Then she punched him in the arm.

"What's that for?!" he said yelling at her while rubbing his arm, trying to get some feeling back.

"For taking so long before finally hitting the target."

He rolled his eyes. Something told him that it wouldn't the last time that she would do that. There is just no escaping violence with this girl.

Then she enthusiastically announced: "Now time to hand-to-hand combat training!"

On those words she turned and climbed the stairs while saying out loud. "Finally something fun!"

It made Hiccup fear for his life.

* * *

They were now as we found them a few minutes ago. On the mats of the training room, fighting gloves in each hands, Hiccup chased back the memory of his recent adventure in the shooting range and started concentrating on what Astrid was saying to him. After she asked him how to call him and fell in her fighting stance, she started instructed him on how he should positioned himself.

"I will now attack you at a speed that you can react at. You will have to try and dodge it."

Hiccup nodded, readying himself, frowning in concentration.

"And don't worry I will try to not hit you too hard."

"Gee! Thanks Astrid, that made me feel a lot better!" irony dripping from his voice.

_As if she would not hit hard._

Astrid glared at him at his remark.

_He thinks he can make fun of me? Well I will make him regret his words._

And on that thought, she attacked him at full speed, holding nothing back.

But instead of throwing him on the floor like she expected, instead she found herself easily dodged by Hiccup.

_Beginner's luck. Let's see him dodged that._

She moved closer to him and began to unleash a barrage of fist at him.

Again he dodged easily. It was like he was seeing every fist coming at him long before it even reached him. She took a step back and look at him again.

He was no fighter, that's for sure. His posture was bad and his guard was full of holes and always too low to be effective. Even though he dodged her attacks, he had done it too widely and made lot of useless movements. She started turning around him, carefully planning her next attack.

"How did you do that?"

"How did I do what?"

He sounds genuinely surprised.

_He's is a damn good actor, pretending it is no big deal to dodge me by a large margin like that._

"How did you dodged me that easily?" She was beginning to get pissed.

"Well, you did say to dodge you right? I mean that's why you are attacking slower than normal."

She snorted at that. "Yeah right, I did ask you to dodge."

Then she tried a lightning fast surprise attack while she was talking. But again he saw it coming miles away and just took a step to the side. She went after him, throwing punches after punches but still wasn't even close to touch him. After a few minutes of dodging, he suddenly look her in the eyes and asked.

"Those punches are a bit faster than slower than normal, aren't they?"

The innocence with which he asked the question infuriated her. Between two panting, she groaned vehemently.

"YOU THINK?!"

He suddenly realized.

_Shit! I wasn't supposed to dodge those. She was attacking for real!_

Knowing that it would be suspicious if he suddenly started to get hit, he decided to first show some sign of fatigue. He began to breath heavily and make his dodging sloppier. Then he made it looked like she was being closer and closer to hit him. After a while, some fists began to connect. Just barely but enough to leave bruises behind. After her fist grazed his left cheek, he decided to took a quick look at her.

She was breathing heavily and sweating abundantly. And of course she was royally pissed. She was having difficulties with an opponent that should have been a walk in the park. It would normally take seconds to beat someone like him and she had been at it for the past 15 minutes.

_How does he do that? He clearly don't know how to fight and he is still dodging nearly all my fists._

She made another contact with his shoulder and groaned. Again no weight behind the punch. Each time I touch him, his body follows the punch, barely bruising him. It was maddening. Every time she threw a punch, she could see that he was perfectly seeing it coming and was moving slowly out of the way. As if he was letting her gloves brush him. Even if he was breathing heavily, he still hadn't break a sweat. She tried to add kicks to her attacks, hoping it would surprise him and throw him off balance but it made no difference. He was dodging it as easily as her fists.

_I think it is about time I really let her hit me._

On that thought, Hiccup faked slipping with his right foot and took medium kick in the stomach. Jumping on the opportunity she threw at his face a quick jab and finished with an uppercut. He flied a good yard back, falling on his back to the floor.

_Argh! That's hurts! Why did she had to finish me? And how could they all like fighting? Are they all like "Yeah! Pain! I love it!"? Oh god! She really hits hard! I am surprised I didn't lost a tooth._

He stayed on the floor groaning in pain.

Astrid hadn't moved yet, her fist was still in the air where she had hit him. She should have been happy that she finally got him but somehow she felt cheated. As if she had not really won this fight. She didn't know why she was feeling that way but she hated it. Something was wrong and she couldn't tell put her finger on it. She saw Hiccup slowly rising up and she finally broke of her trance.

He tried to joke a bit with his crooked smile.

"I thought you said that you would not hit too hard? I can barely feel my jaw."

She simply glared at him, not amused in the least.

"As you said before, I also told you to dodge."

Then she began to gather her things. Her thoughts wandered on the sparing, The fight have been way too long.

_Even if I am still partially hungover there is no way that it made me weak enough to struggle like that against Hiccup. How could he had seen all my punches coming? Something is up and I will find out what._

She spared an angry look at Hiccup as he gathered his things.

Feeling her stare, he turned over and offered her his trademark crooked apologetic smile.

"What is it? Did I do something wrong? It was kind of a first for me."

Not knowing why his words set a blaze of angry fire in her mind, she glared at him, and watched him shy away from her glare with a guilty look in his eyes. He seems way too nervous to be innocent and he is a bad liar.

_He is hiding something for sure. I don't what yet but trust me Hiccup I WILL find it!_

But first she needed a shower. Throwing her bag over her shoulder, she walked to the doors and stopped, holding the door. She faced Hiccup and spoke in a calm tone.

"You're hiding something." This was no question, simply a statement. "And I will find out what." Before he could say anything, she left and added.

"I will see you again for another practice Monday morning."

Hiccup just stood there for a few minute after she left and then simply sat down on the floor, letting a huge sigh escape.

"Now how the hell am I going to get out of this one?"

* * *

**If you spotted mistakes that hurt your eyes, please feel free to point it to me in the link in my profile page so that I correct it and prevent others to be hurt too. ^^**


	5. Chapter 5 - Long week

**Hiccup in a Flash, chap 5**

**I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or its characters, just merely borrowing the characters for an adventure of my own.**

**Sorry for the long wait, I had trouble with the inspiration on how to phrase my ideas. ^^**

**Please enjoy yourself with this fanfic ^^**

**\- Chapter 5: Long week**

* * *

It had been a very long week for Hiccup, Astrid in a bad mood Monday and it just kept getting worse with each passing day. And it can't say that his mood had been at his best this week either. Each morning she would insist that they sparred and that he shoot at the firing range. Even though he was definitely getting better at the whole shooting thing, he was tired of always being beaten up in sparring. Seeing suspicious how she had been last week, he did his best to do really poorly at it. Now he nearly never could dodge her fist and he is usually on the mat on ten seconds top. He hoped it would be enough to get Astrid off his back a bit. She was nearly always eyeing him angrily whenever he was next to her. As he was a criminal that she had to let loose and was waiting for him to make another mistake.

It had been quite an interesting week. As he expected, he didn't have to give any input to Astrid to help her close her cases. It was nearly always straight-forward, Berk's criminals not being the brightest people. In each case that it saw this week, the criminal had been caught on at least one camera and was already registered in the criminal database. Afterward they just had to pick him up. When I say they I mean Astrid grabbed the guy usually twice her size, put him on the ground while Hiccup watched her slightly worried. _She wasn't kidding when she said she doesn't need my help._

It had made him fear for his life. If she acted like that on criminal just to get rid of day-to-day stress, he would imagine what she would do to him as Night Fury. _Because it definitely looks like she has a personal grudge against me. I don't even know why._ Luckily for him the investigation didn't made much progress. So far the only clue they had was the footage from the bank robbery and that he was making an high-pitched sound when he was coming to the scene of a crime. He and Astrid had to go to every place where he appeared, and every time, he was told to just shut up and watch. It had been weird to came back to the site of his intervention and see Astrid desperately trying to find some clue to arrest him. But he had to say that when he saw her coming back to the car, fuming after an hour of looking and questioning without any leads, it always gave him a smile.

_I must have a masochist penchant, there is just no other explanation. I know what she is capable of and I still can't help but piss her off. In both my personas __apparently. I am so dead if she ever find out. Speak of the devil._

Indeed Astrid was walking out of Captain Sven's office and she was definitely mad. Captain refused to let her continue to investigate the Night Fury case further more while she still had so many other cases to deal with. He made it clear that she must first resolve at least half of her cases, starting by the investigating the new gang that recently appeared, before she could be full-time on the Night Fury case again. When she saw her partner waiting for her with concern in his eyes it did nothing to improve her mood.

Ever since she had trouble beating him last week, she kept asking him for spar. Now she was no longer hungover, she was ready to defeat him without needed that he slipped. However, she defeated him far easier than she expected, he barely stood a few seconds, it was as if he suddenly became much slower and sloppier. She beat him like she had expected to last Friday. But strangely, rather than feeling reassured that she was still on top of her game, and that the first time was just her being a bit more hungover than she thought, she got mad. She got the feeling she was being treated out of a fair fight. She was going to get to the bottom of this.

But first, I need to get myself back on the Night Fury case. I need to see my informant Johann about this gang. She went to her desk, ignoring Hiccup's inquisitive look and went for her gun in her drawer.

"Get your gear, we're going to the docks."

"Why? What's happening?"

"Just a minor delay from the Night Fury case."

* * *

The docks were freezing, and the winter sea breeze just made it worse. You feel the cold all the way to your bones, no matter how many layer of clothes you are wearing. Even though he had lived there his whole life, Hiccup still hadn't gotten used to the freezing weather that reigned almost year-round in Berk. He was more of an indoor lab-work guy than a beat-the-street patrolling kind of guy. Another reason he thought that he wasn't made to be a detective. Even if now he was spending a lot of his time in the streets as Night Fury, the heat from all the speeding he was doing was enough to counteract the cold wind of when he was running around. _Brrrr... Another sea breeze._

"What the hell are we waiting for exactly?"

Astrid just turned her gaze to him, telling him to shut up and stared at the corner of a warehouse, completely ignoring his question.

It had been over an hour at the pier for over an hour, waiting for Astrid mysterious confidential informant to show up. Hiccup was beginning to doubt that this so called Johann would ever show up. Astrid had not said a word since they left the Police Plaza and apparently she planned on keeping it that way, somehow mad at him for some obscure reason.

When he was about to ask her again why they would have to wait again, a shadow appeared from the corner that Astrid was staring at. A man with a jovial face, a funny beard and mustache walked to them. The point of his finely combed massive beard was tied in a short and thick braid, as were the extremities of his long mustache. He was dressed like a docker with working shoes, large brown pants, a blue shirt and a dark blue bonnet. However he seemed different. While not skinny, he was as massive as other dock workers usually are and his clothes were cleaner and of better fabric than most dock workers. As you take a second look at it, you discovered that his clothes are not as plain as they looked, there were uniques motifs and colors mixed in his clothes that blend together to give the impression of plain clothes from a distance but an elegant and trending clothing up close. Aside from what he was wearing, he didn't have the tired apathetic look of someone that spend his whole life doing repeating difficult manual labor; instead in his blue eyes that where looking everywhere, you could spot an hint of amusement in the ever going curious look he was doing at everything.

As he was closing on Astrid, his face seemed to lit up in delight. He started speaking to her in a loud, warm voice as a storekeeper would greet his favorite customer.

"Ahh, Astrid... My favorite of all the detectives that I have trade with!"

"Johann The Trader. I supposed I don't want to know where you've been this time." Astrid answered coldly.

"Ah Astrid, the things I have seen, the people I have met, I would need a week to regal you! But alas, I assumed we have limited time to conduct our business together."

She scowled at him but didn't answer, knowing that, as always, he was right. She didn't have time for all the wrong doing he might have done.

Hiccup was puzzled by this colorful character and couldn't help but ask: "Who are you exactly?"

"My name is Trader Johann for my friends or Johann The Trader for the police." the man replied, "My specialty is to trade a little bit of everything, mostly information. Whatever it is you're looking for, I can assure you, you will find it here," he stated happily, while pointing to his head.

Turning to Astrid, he asked her in his ever cheerful tone of a story teller, "So, what can I can do for you today lad? Something in particular that you want to know?"

"I have been asked to investigate a new gang that had appear on the docks. As it's on your turf, I imagine you've heard of them."

His cheerful expression left him immediately, replaced with a look of concern and worry.

"Yeah, I've heard of them. They control nearly all of the east part of the docks and are expanding their activities downtown. They mostly imports goods like drugs, weapons and electronics but apparently they're also forming crews for operation in the city. Contrary to most gangs in Berk, they have ambition and the organization to show for it. But that's about all I know. They're keeping their activities very secret, and won't hesitate to kill to keep it that way. Even cops aren't safe from them." he added with a meaningful look to Astrid. "You do not want to mess with them lady Astrid."

She snorted at his comment. "After all this time, you still know me so little. You really think I'll be frightened away?"

He simply shrugged his shoulder. "One can still hope to introduce you to some wisdom. I reminds me of the time I found myself in heated discussion with a prince of the finance on one my numerous travels. He was reputed for his impulsive, but educated guesses, on the stock market and was happily chatting with me about his latest enterprise. He was certain that Breakneck Bog Incorporated was a sure way for him to rebound from his previous losses. In my infinite wisdom, I tried to dissuaded him from such an dangerous enterprise. Breakneck Bog Incorporated was an adventure where many had sailed in its waters but very few had returned successful. Its value on the stock market kept fluctuating, mostly downwards but, on some rare occasion, it would just skyrocket to one of the most valuable stocks. He ignored my advice and got too close. Before he knew it, he was surrounded by a fog of debts and creditors that scraped the skin off his bones." Seeing as he was lost once again in one of his stories, he cleared his throat and got to the point. "Anyway, believe it or not lady Astrid, I like you, and it would pain to see you killed from my information. Best leave it as it is."

Astrid frowned at that and a predatory smile crept on her lips. "So, you DO have information on them." She grabbed him by the collar and drew him close to her furious glare. "What are you not telling me? Is one of their operations happening soon?"

He answered quickly, knowing all too well what an angry Astrid can do. "Please, calm down my good lady. I will tell you, no need to hustle it out of me."

She let him go and stared at him coldly. "So what it is you aren't telling me? What is going on? And don't you dare lie to me!"

Johann swallowed hard. It was never a good idea to lie to Astrid. "I heard that there is some cargo from that gang that would be unloaded later at night, on the pier 7, to the warehouse 78A. I don't know what is in the cargo but I know that it is an important operation for them. That's all I know about it lady Astrid. I swear!"

She continued to stare at him for a few seconds, and then soften her gaze. "Alright. I believe you, but next time, you better tell me everything the first time I ask Johann."

"I wouldn't dare to do that lady Astrid. And now I believe it is my cue to go. Lots of people to meet. See ya another time lady Astrid, and you too boy."

As he was leaving Astrid asked him one final question: "Johann, I've been wondering, do you know anything about Night Fury?"

His eyes sparkled in bewildered curiosity at that question. "Ah... the mysterious Night Fury. It reminds me one of my trips where I met the mighty royal family of some small country, far east from here. The second prince of the family was a mysterious lad, very few outside his family had ever met him, even less saw him. I was in the back garden, chatting with one of the princess, passing the time with stories of my grand adventures that were sure to warm her heart and stroke the fire of her imagination, when suddenly, I spotted something unbelievable. The second mysterious prince was..."

"Johann! How the hell does it have anything to do with Night Fury?" she wasn't going to sit through another one of Johann's tall tales, not when she could get some actual information about Night Fury.

Johann stopped his rambling and decided that, for once, he should get straight to the point. "Sorry lady Astrid, you know how I tend to get sidetracked. I could tell you numerous tales about characters as mysterious as Night Fury that I have met during my epics adventures all day long, but I'm afraid that I don't have a single clue about this elusive vigilante. All I know is that it's first appearance was nearly five months ago, even if very few believed he existed at the time. Ever since, he had been fighting various criminals without getting even a scratch. He used to do everything in the shadows, avoiding all attention, staying an urban legend that only existed between whispers. It is only recently that he had been more _public_ about his interventions. He got recognized and started this famous new "scream" of his after the bank robbery last week. That's about all I know, but I have to do admit that I would love to know more."

"Join the club." Astrid grunted. She was hoping for more, or at least information she didn't already know. "Ok Johann, we will be going our way."

On those words, she turned away and began to walk back to her car, Hiccup hot on her heels.

The encounter with Johann made him very curious about this character. Then he realized something.

"If he is a trader, what did you trade him for his information?"

"In exchange for information, I offered him leniency when he was spotted trading with some shady characters. Plus, he owes me one. I saved him a few years ago from a gang called The Speed Stingers, specialized in illegal car racing."

He nodded in understanding. Detective work was more complicated than he thought. But he didn't know if it was just Astrid, or if other detectives also managed to develop informant like Johann. He had to think they were seeing as Johann called Astrid _his favorite detective_. Somehow, he didn't think his cousin was smart enough to have a confidential informant.

As they reached the car, he was surprised to see that Astrid didn't climb inside, but instead opened the trunk and start rummaging through it.

"What are you doing? Aren't we going back to the Police Plaza?", he asked puzzled at to what she was doing.

She raised her head from the trunk and looked at him as if he was stupid. She took two large flashlights from the trunk and threw one at him. "Grab your forensic tools, we are going to recon that warehouse for tonight. With some luck, they've even used this warehouse before and left traces of whatever they are smuggling. You and you fancy kit should be able to tell us what it is. We'll have to be careful not to leave any signs that we were there, the worst thing we could do is alert them to our plans for tonight."

Then without looking back to see if he was following her, she walked off toward the pier 7. Quickly, he grabbed his gear and jogged to catch up with her. The docks were mostly empty, but severals piers were swarming with activity as dock workers were unloading freshly delivered cargo in warehouses. It gave the opportunity to Hiccup to glimpse at what to expect of a warehouse. Berk's warehouses were all based on the same model. A huge empty space of 60 yards long, 30 yards wide and 25 yards high. They have two big sliding main gates at the front and back, for trucks to come in, and three smaller exits on each side for employees to come in and out. In the middle of the right side, there was an office situated ten feet above the warehouse floor with large windows overlooking the whole warehouse. You could access it with the metal stairs on each side of the office, plus a smaller staircase leading directly outside the warehouse.

Hiccup was trying to get a grasp of the other features of a warehouse, when suddenly, as he was watching some workers opening crates of bananas, something grabbed his attention. _Something is wrong here_. He grabbed Astrid by the shoulder and signed for her to follow him.

"What the hell, Hiccup?! The warehouse is still two piers further away!" She didn't like to be ordered around, especially by Hiccup.

Hiccup mimed for her to stay silent and she begrudgingly obeyed. Something in his serious glare told her that he wasn't goofing around. The workers had left their truck parked side way of the north entrance opened. They must have been waiting for their client to check their goods before loading the last crates. As silently as possible, Hiccup climbed at the back of the truck, examining the closed crates closely.

Furious at her partner for leaving her in the dark, she silently followed him and whispered at him furiously.

"What's the f*ck are you doing? You do know that being a cop don't give us the right to search into anything we want, right? Why are you looking at those crates?"

"Because they're very suspicious."

Now she was mad. _He thought he could notice something that she hasn't? That he would be the one teaching HER?_ "How in the trolls' name are those crates suspicious?"

He answered her drily, annoyed at being deranged in his examination of the tag, telling her as if it was obvious. "I could see bananas in the crates."

She looked at him eyes wide as if he was crazy. "AND THAT MAKE IT SUSPICIOUS?!"

He glared at her furiously for yelling like that. "Would you please shut up? You'll get us noticed."

"I'll shut up when you explain to me why the hell crates of bananas are suspicious."

"It's suspicious because I could actually see the bananas. Bananas are a tropical fruit sensitive to cold. They are usually shipped covered in large blankets to protect from the cold during the trip. Especially when they are destined to a cold region like Berk. Moreover, those crates are too small."

Astrid raised her eyebrows in incomprehension, definitely interested by Hiccup explanation.

"Those crates are barely two feet long, one wide and six inches deep. It is just way too small for a shipment of bananas. They are usually at least a four foot cube so there would be way more bananas shipped in one crate. And there, look!" He showed a mark on the tag of one of the crates. Astrid moved closer to take a look. "It said that the crates came from Germany, a country that can't even grow bananas. It just doesn't add up. I bet you anything that in those crates they are filled with more than bananas."

She saw that he was right, and looked at him sheepishly. He seemed proud of his demonstration, and she had to admit, she was impressed. Not only was he her first partner ever to rightfully correct her, but she was certain that no one else in the department would have noticed that. Not even Stoick the Vast. _How the hell did he do that? More importantly, how does he even know all that stuff? I thought he only knew some physics_ _gibberish. _

Hiccup looked at her intrigued. She seemed lost in her thought and it was hardly the time for it. He tried to speak as loudly as he dared.

"Astrid. Hey, Astrid. Astrid!"

She finally seemed to shook off her daze. "We better get going, they'll be make soon."

She focused again, her detective instinct kicking off. As well as her usual crazy boldness.

"You're right, this is way too suspicious. And seeing the number of crates, I bet they're from the gang we were looking for. This is way too organized and such large scale is unusual to be an operation of the usual gang of Berk. First, we should open a crate to see what we are dealing with."

And before Hiccup could protest about the noise it would surely create, she grabbed a crowbar and began to open the closest crate. With a way too loud bang for Hiccup's taste, the crate finally opened, revealing the suspicious bananas. She immediately started digging until her fingers finally met a round metallic object. Knowing all too well what it was, she careful took it out. A grenade. An old M-67 to be exact.

Hiccup nearly yelped in fright. "A grenade?! What's the f*ck?!"

Astrid glared at him angrily, he was making way too much noise. He realized that and eyed nervously the exit of the truck. Slowly, she threw a look outside to see if some of the dock workers had heard them. Swearing to herself, she saw three man walking towards them, hands on their guns while the three others were cautiously staying further back. They had barely a minute before they were to the trunk.

"Great."

Hiccup winced at her expression. "Let me guess, they heard you opening the crate."

She threw a furious glare at him. "Me?! Why would it be me they heard? Isn't it because you yelled when you saw the grenade?"

"Or it could be when you yelled at me for saying those crates were suspicious."

"You weren't making any sense!" She couldn't believe they were arguing while armed men were closing in on them.

He answered her in a perfectly calm voice "I protest. I was perfectly logical, you just couldn't see the logic."

"Are you saying I'm stupid?!"

"No, I'm not saying that you're stupid, just slower on the uptake than me." he added with a smirk.

She just couldn't believe her ears. _Since when was he that snarky? _She quickly gathered her thoughts, remembering the dangerous situation they were in.

"Let's just leave it at that. In any case, we just won't ever have the answer to who alerted them."

With a crooked smile, he corrected her. "Again, I must correct you. We can. We just have to kindly ask them."

She looked at him in disbelief at what he just said, saying it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, and couldn't help a chuckle. Hiccup looked at her, surprised by her reaction. She was also surprised at her own reaction. _6 armed men are closing on me and he made me chuckle?! How the hell is it possible? _

If he had to be honest, he also couldn't believe himself. It was amazing what stress was making him say. Nervously, he glanced at the mirror he left at the corner in the back of the truck when Astrid was checking if the dock workers heard them. They were close now and was pointing their guns at the door of the truck, ready to fire. That's when he saw the forklift truck coming their way. A hint of hope passed and he pointed it out to Astrid. She nodded in agreement, knowing that it might be their best shot. They stood ready for action by the door.

As the forklift truck passed by, all the men hide their weapons in their back. That was the opportunity that Astrid and Hiccup were waiting for. Hiccup ran for cover behind some large crates near the truck while Astrid showed up at the back of the truck, yelling:

"POLICE! Drop your weapons NOW!"

They didn't hesitate and immediately open fire.

The plan was simple. Astrid, being the best shooter, would stay in the truck and continue shooting. If they weren't stupid, they wouldn't dare to shoot at a truck full of grenades. And in order to get closer to the truck, they would have to pass in front of Hiccup's line of sight. They should be able to hold like that for a while and the driver of the forklift would certainly call the police, bringing them some back up. It was a rather solid plan, and with some luck he wouldn't even have to shoot too much. Just enough to make sure they knew he was armed.

That plan went up in smoke when the dock workers started shooting at the truck.

_That's why I hate Berkian criminals. They just can't think for a second. _They had to get out of there fast before a grenade got hit and blew them all sky high, and bring the warehouse down on their heads. Astrid needed to get away from the truck, but for that, she needed some covering fire. He exchanged a quick look with Astrid, took a deep breath and yelled.

"NOW!"

As she was running towards him he got up from behind his cover and shot. The thing was that he is decent shooter when he took time to aim his shot and calculate the correction. Unfortunately, there wasn't time for that today. But luckily for him, his power also gave a huge boost to his thought process. He hit the first thug at the shoulder and got close enough to the rest to make them duck for cover.

There were now only 4 shooters left, as Astrid had killed one and slightly wounded another when she had shot from the truck. Hiccup had left one grimacing on the floor, unable to fight for the moment.

The most frustrating part was that, if he was there as Night Fury, he could have disarmed them in seconds without fear of being injured. But now, with Astrid next to him, he had four armed men shooting at his "normal" him, all the while praying they wouldn't accidentally sent off a grenade.

_Great!_ _Just great! Exactly how I imagined my day would be. _

Astrid opened fire again, seriously wounding one and killing another.

_Gods, she is good!_

A shadow appeared behind her. One of the shooter had managed to slip to the side of their crates and tried to take her by surprise. Not two seconds later he found himself lying on the floor unconscious.

_She is SO good!_

Only two shooters remained. Hiccup shot while Astrid reloaded and he managed to graze one in the leg. Before he could take cover again, Astrid was already up and shooting, placing two bullets in the stomach of the shooter on the ground.

The last shooter, seeing as he was outnumbered, ran to the office above the stairs while shooting over his immediately gave chase, Hiccup close behind her. The shooter was much slower than them, and they were half way up the stairs when he closed the door of the office. They entered the office immediately after him. Astrid saw the door leading outside swing closed and ran to it.

That's when Hiccup saw something rolling by the door. Faster than she could react, he threw her back, grabbed the armed grenade left by the door, and closed the door behind him as he ran outside.

_Okay, now what?_

He couldn't have left it in the office and push Astrid by the door with him, not with a crate full of grenades in it. He tried to consider his options with all the speed his fast thinking would allow.

_Alright, a M67 fragmentation grenade has an effective casualty radius of 49 feet, a fatality radius of 16 feet and can throw pieces up to 820 feet away. It has a delay fuse of 4 to 5 seconds and I don't know when the fuse was lit. The fuse had already been ignited so I can't disarmed it by putting the pin back in. I could disassemble it at super speed and remove the fuse, but I left my tools in the truck. I can't throw it in any direction in case it hit a civilian, and I can't dropped it in the sea at super speed, it would be too suspicious. And I can't just throw it up at the right time as I don't know when it'll explode. Too soon or too late and I get hit. Only one solution, throw it so high that in 5 seconds it would still be going upwards, and in less than 3 it would go farther than 50 feet. Huff! Easy as pie with my legendary __upper body strength! Rah! I always knew it would come to bite me in the ass._

Quickly, he spun around as fast as he could, holding his arm out so that the grenade gained maximum centrifugal force, and threw it in the air.

It shot up him into the air as fast as a bullet, and exploded not 2 seconds later. Luckily for him, it went faster that he thought it would, and he was only hit by some fragments. They barely grazed him, with his metabolism the wounds would heal quickly.

Astrid was still in shock. Not only did the nerdy lab rat she thought would always get in her way noticed the grenade before SHE did, but he also reacted before SHE could do a thing and went off with the grenade. And now there had been, a few seconds after that, a large explosion. _No, it can't be! He can't have died because of me! _She was still on the floor where Hiccup threw her. Unable to move.

"Astrid! Quick! He's getting away!"

A wave of relief draped her from head to toes. _He didn't die, I didn't cause him to die. _She tried to get up, but her legs refused to move, still too weak from all her conflicting emotions. She felt anger and indignation burst like a volcano from inside her. She was not weak. A heartbeat later she was out.

Hiccup was running slowly, expecting Astrid to burst out of the warehouse any second now. The shooter had thrown away his gun, completely empty, and was now running as fast as humanly possible, hoping the grenade would slow them down. He felt his hopes rise up as he closed in on his getaway car, 50 yards away. That's when Astrid burst out of the warehouse, angrier than Hiccup had ever seen her. Like a raging bull, she quickly caught up to Hiccup and smashed the criminal on to the hood of his getaway car as soon as he reached it. With a sinister crunch he felt down on his car, completely out for the next few hours. She barely gave him a glance before she turned her glare to Hiccup. That's when he knew she wasn't pissed at the guy, but at him.

Hiccup swallowed loudly. _Dear God, what did I do now?_

* * *

**If you spotted mistakes that hurt your eyes, please feel free to point it to me in the link in my profile page so that I correct it and prevent others to be hurt too. ^^**


	6. Chapter 6 - Trap

**Hiccup in a Flash, chap 6**

**I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or its characters, just merely borrowing the characters for an adventure of my own.**

**Please enjoy yourself with this fanfic ^^**

**Thanks a lot to CreativeRoadblock for correcting my mistaking and giving me his input. I would like to thank the Viking Stranger for his suggestion that gave me an idea for later. ^^**

**\- Chapter 6: Trap**

* * *

Hiccup was getting pissed. It had been 3 days since Astrid last spoke to him, and he still had no idea why she was mad at him. When backup arrived, she stayed unusually silent and blandly gave her account of the incident to Captain Sven. Then, without a word, she left the docks, leaving Hiccup to deal with all the paperwork and walk back to the Police Plaza alone. Luckily for him, it hadn't been a major issue to deal with, seeing as he could just use his superspeed to go back and fill out the paperwork. It only took him half an hour but still, it greatly annoyed him.

The next day he was ready for a workout in Mildew's Park, something she had insisted on all week. It had been a great day to go outside, at least for freezing winter in Berk. No snow falling, less than an inch of snow on the ground and a large grey sky where sometimes a hint of sunlight peeked through the cloud cover. You just can't hope for more during this season. Of course he was freezing, but he was glad they would be exercising, it would warm him up. The only problem was, she didn't show up. He waited an hour and half in the park, tried to call her several times but never got an answer. Fuming, he went home to prepare himself a good warm bath. Once he calmed down, he was beginning to get worried for her. It just wasn't like her to do that.

_What if she got hurt yesterday? What if she just couldn't get out of her bed this morning? She seemed to have been pretty shocked by the grenade incident yesterday._

Then, he decided that he should check up on her. That was when he realized that he had no idea where she lived, and somehow he doubted Captain Sven would give him that information just because he asked nicely. At this point he just chose to patrol the street for the rest of the day as Night Fury, and who knows? With some luck he might see her at some point. And he could just as well check on the docks, to see if there would be more activities of that gang.

Now that he had a plan, he gave up the idea of a bath, opted for a quick shower instead, and changed into his alter-ego, ready to watch for another day his city.

* * *

While Hiccup was patrolling the docks for gang-related activities, Astrid was at _The Forge_, complaining to a slightly bored Ruffnut.

"Can you believe the guy?! We were following a lead and all of the sudden he started ordered me around and snooping around in a truck as if he was the detective and not just some nosy lab rat." She took another generous gulp of her beer. "He was trying to order ME around. And the look he gave me! He looked at me as if I was STUPID! He even JOKED about it! While we were surrounded by armed men!"

Ruffnut was listening from one ear while she was ogling some hottie at the bar. "Yeah, but wasn't he right about the crate?"

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!" Ruffnut cringed at the volume of Astrid's voice. She wasn't the only one. Some people at the other table were looking at them and the barman scowled at them. Noticing the attention, she dropped her voice to a more reasonable volume, slightly calmer but still royally pissed, and continued. "That's not what is important here. What's important is that he started doing whatever he wanted. I'm the one that calls the shots here. Stoick even told him that. Twice."

"Since when those things have any importance to you?" Ruffnut snorted. "I clearly remember you sitting at this same table complaining to me that people weren't taking you seriously, that all that matters to them was that they were calling the shots and that you weren't, even though you would be right. If I remember correctly your words were that it was 'ludicrously stupid and moronic and that the one who is right should call the shots'. Or did I hear that wrong?" A teasing smile crept out on Ruffnut's lips. S_hould be fun to watch her talk her way out of this one._

Astrid didn't have the words. She just shuttered, "Tha -That was different! I -I didn't know that -I mean how could I know that.. Oh! Hell!"

And with those inspiring words, she focused her attention on her beer. At least it wouldn't try to prove her wrong, contrary to her so called friend.

Ruffnut had some trouble holding back a laugh at Astrid's pout. She was always so cute when she was at a loss for words. Forcing a poker face, she started interrogating Astrid again.

"But seriously, why are you so pissed off at this guy? Didn't he save your life?"

The pout on Astrid's face immediately disappeared. Instead, she had a look that Ruffnut had never seen on her. She was frowning at the memory, giving off a general vibe of reluctance and anger at being reminded of that fact, but she didn't dare to look Ruffnut in the eyes. She kept her eyes shyly down on her beer, a hint of sadness and regret in her gaze. And then she painfully admitted:

"Yeah, he did save my life."

Ruffnut didn't know what to make of it. She had known Astrid for a while now and she never, ever, shied away when she was angry. She would always look straight into the eyes of the unfortunate victim of her anger until they didn't dare to look at her anymore. And never ever showed regret in her anger. _Just what is going on? Did I miss something? _

An uncomfortable silence followed that statement, both of them lost in their own thought but with different worries.

* * *

_Something isn't right._

Hiccup had been patrolling the docks for the last hour and he hadn't found any suspicious activities. Or any activity at all, for that matter, not even a guardian patrolling. There was literally nobody there. He had to say that he wasn't surprised when he saw the warehouse that Johann had pointed them to yesterday was empty. After all, who would continue their business when a big arrest happened a few hours before not far from there. He had took his lab kit to examine the warehouse for trace of previous activities but he came back empty. Nothing had happened there for weeks, a good layer of dust was on the equipment. But that didn't stop Hiccup in his investigation. If they were doing an exchange last night, that mean that their cargo had just arrived and that they needed to stock it somewhere. They might have just moved their rendezvous further away from this warehouse.

With that in mind, Hiccup patrolled the piers the furthest away from there and checked if there was a cargo ship suspiciously heavy guarded on the docks. So far, he had found nothing.

A few hours later, as he were about to drop his investigation at the port, his mask picked up something from the police radio:

"To all units nearby, we received a call signaling suspicious activity on the docks. Pier 7, warehouse 78A. Asking for officers to check on it. I repeat..."

_Well that's odd. Who could have reported this? There's nobody there._ Frowning and determined, he decided to head for the warehouse but approaching it carefully. _That smells an awful lot like a trap._

When he arrived, he had made extra sure that Thunderdrum was deactivated. He wouldn't want to spook whoever was waiting for him, would he? He hide himself behind a crate and waited to see what was happening. The warehouse was lit and the main doors were open, with a truck waiting for some cargo. He could only spot 3 men busy emptying the warehouse to put it in the truck. It looked like the same crates in the other warehouse.

_So suspicious. If it is the same kind of deal than this afternoon, how come there aren't more men on it after that fiasco? And how would a passerby know that this it is indeed a suspicious activity and not some regular dock workers? Better be careful._

On that thought he activated Thunderdrum. One of the perk of Thunderdrum is that not only it allow him to hear what is happening around him, but it also has an enhance hearing capacity that could boost up to twenty time the capacity of an human ear. It was a necessity of high speed scrolling in the street of Berk, otherwise he would never be able to hear what was happening in time to react. And if it didn't made a huge difference when speeding, it could be really useful when you stopped. Hiccup didn't like to use it to much when he was stationary, because he always ended up with a large headache from earring way too much than what he was able to process. At least he did, before he discovered he could also speed his thought processes, but the combination of both tired him really quickly.

Once he activated Thunderdrum, he focused himself to try to process what he was hearing. Even if there were less noises here than in the city, it was still a lot to process. He decided to focus on the number of heartbeats he could hear coming from the warehouse. He patiently counted, crossing in his mind each heartbeat one by one, until he was left with a grand total of 19 including his own.

_So 18 men. 3 as a bait and 15 hiding to ambush me.__ My guess is that they are waiting for me to apprehend the 3 faking to load the truck and when I am finished and I am busy tying them up, they all start shooting at me. I don't know where they are but I am guessing that are hiding in those suspiciously large crates that just happened to strategically surrounded the warehouse._

He took his time to observe the situation before deciding of a plan. One man was at the back of a truck, waiting for the crates that another was delivering to him, going forth and back from the inside of the warehouse. From his position he could spot the last "bait" sitting on a crate in the middle of the warehouse, a kalashnikov in hand, falsely relaxed while keeping his hand on the trigger and constantly checking the entry out of the corner of his eye.

As fast as lightning, producing his signature scream, Hiccup punched the guy about to give the crate to the other in the truck right in the solar plexus, he would be out for the next hour at least. Before he had time to take cover, Hiccup took out the thug in the back of the truck in another shrieking scream. Quickly, he got out and ran at the last thug, his signature screech following him.

_Once he is out of it, I deactivate Thunderdrum and hide myself in a corner waiting for them to come out from those crates._

His Terrible Terror sensor picked up something in the corner of his eyes on his way past the now neutralized thug.

_Sh*t! A claymore!_

The next thing he knew the whole warehouse went up in flames.

* * *

Astrid was on her couch when she received the call. The girls' night with Ruffnut didn't go as she expected. She didn't expect Ruffnut to notice her discomfort when she mentioned Hiccup saving her life. She thought that Ruffnut would see that it made her angry, maybe tease her a bit on it, then drop it to let Astrid blab on everything that made her mad today. Instead she went silent for a moment, and then tried to pry some information from Astrid on why she was so angry at Hiccup and why she looked so sad when she mentioned that he saved her. Rather than having a nice evening venting off her anger, irritation and guilt added on to the anger.

She was drinking a relaxing tea to help her sleep and cleanse some of the alcohol from her blood when her phone began to ring. She looked at the clock and frowned.

_Who could be calling me at this hour? It's past midnight._

She look at her phone and her eyes widened in surprise at the caller ID: _Commissioner Haddock_.

_Why would he be calling me at this hour? It must be important._

She quickly picked up and answered in a rather hoarse voice:

"Commissioner, what is going on?"

He answered her in a slight smile. "Always straight to business as usual Detective Hofferson." He then took a much more official and grave tone. "We have an issue here that is related to two of your cases. Earlier this evening, some suspicious activities had been reported at the warehouse pointed by your confidential informant. A few moment later two officers went to check out and they found the warehouse in flames and heard that damn Night Fury. The firemen arrived quickly after that to control the fire, while the officers discovered two men passed out outside the warehouse. They seemed to be thugs who played a part in a very shady transaction. Once the fire out, we inspected the wreckage and found a body."

"Is it Night Fury?"

"No, it doesn't match his height. It remains yet to be identified but Night Fury may have claimed his first victim."

"Do you need me to be over there?"

"All is under control here, and the suspects have been sent to the station for questioning. However, I think you might be interested in questioning them personally. There are likely to have some ties to another case you had been involved with recently."

Now Stoick had her even more curious._ A third case? Which one? And didn't he said that it involved only two of her cases?_

"Alright Commissioner, I'm on my way."

"I will wait for you at the scene to provide you with what we found. After that you should go to the station to question the suspects." There was nothing else to say and he hung up.

She quickly gulp up the rest of her tea, grabbed her keys and stopped when she was about to grab her phone.

_Should I call Hiccup? He is my partner after all, he should know about this._

Chasing her thoughts, she grabbed her phone and put it in her pocket.

_Seeing him will just anger me even more. Besides, I can do this on my own._

She headed for the door and stopped a moment in front of the mirror. She watched her reflection, steeling her resolve.

_I don't need him. I'm not weak._

She left without looking back.

* * *

Hiccup had been tossed in a corner, his blurry vision could only make out the shapes of flames around him. When he spotted the claymore, it was too late to stop or go back. He did the only thing he could, ran as fast as he could to duck behind the closest large crate next to him. He nearly succeeded. Nearly is a key word here. The explosion hadn't be too large, he had ran fast enough to be clear of it. The shockwave however was another story. It caught him in mid-air as he was ducking behind a crate. It sent him fly on a far corner of the warehouse, crashing in a few crates on the way there. Luckily for him, it was his right leg that took most of the damage of the blast and the protection on his back protected him for the impact with the crates. _Thank God, I chose leather for my suit rather than spandex. _His relief was only temporary. Even if his suit and right leg took most of the damage, he still had some serious bruising all over his body. His ears were still ringing from the explosion and took a mental note of how a good idea it had been to cut off Thunderdrum and its enhanced hearing right before it. Otherwise, he might had been deaf for days after that blast.

He heard voices around him and was trying to make sense out of it. Painfully trying to raise his head, he took a look around him. The explosion hadn't been big but had been enough to set the crates on fire. Pieces of burning wood and crates were everywhere, blown away from the center of the warehouse, where Hiccup could spot the scorch marks of the explosion. Curiously, the suspiciously large crates near the center hadn't moved at all. That's when he noticed the metallic glimpse coming from behind the fumes of the explosion. The exterior of those crates had been destroyed and burned by the explosion, revealing that the inside had been reinforced by metallic plates. One by one, men started to emerge from the crates. Clearly, they were not your everyday Berkian thugs. They were all wearing the same uniform and carrying the same equipment. Those were no gang members, they were a small private army.

Clearly black was the look they were going for. Black military boots, black pants with shades of grey to make a military camouflage, they were also wearing a black bullet proof jacket on top of a black sweater. There seemed to be a logo on the right sleeve but Hiccup couldn't make anything out, still shaken up by the explosion. They hide their face behind a black mask, leaving only their eyes visible. They all held a M-16 rifle in their hands and had a Glock 17 attached to their right leg. At least, that's what Terrible Terror indicated to Hiccup. Surprisingly, the Terrible Terror was still working. He was a bit out of focus from the explosion, but still functioning nonetheless.

The notification of Terrible Terror on how heavily armed those men were pushed Hiccup out of his catatonic state. He had to move. Slowly, trying to not alert his opponents as much as possible, he tried to get up. His effort were rewarded by a huge bolt of pain coming from his left leg.

_Sh*t!_

He looked down to his legs. Even if his right metallic leg had protect his left one from most of the damage, he didn't protect it from all damage. A large wooden shard of a foot long was currently sticking out of his left leg. It seemed to had found it's way to Hiccup's left thigh. He slowly reached out for it.

_ARGGHHHH! Holy sh*t! That hurts like hell._

As soon as he touched the shard, a blinding pain shot up from his leg. Swallowing a scream, he looked around him, trying to consider his options.

_Those men are slowly walking to the center of the explosion, looking for my corpse. Last they heard of me, I was in the middle of it, subduing the thug sitting on a crate._

His bloody corpse had been blown onto the metallic plate of one those crates and was covered in flaming left-over of what used to be the crate he sat on.

_Soon they would realize that I'm not dead next to him and they'll start looking for me in the warehouse. I have to get moving. Even if they don't find me, this whole place will go up in flame with me in it. One leg lost to the fire is enough for me, I don't plan to lose any other part of my body in a fire again._

He stared at the shard nagging him, stuck in his leg. The scan report of Terrible Terror told him that the shard was two inches deep in his leg and, even if it didn't permanently damaged his leg, it would greatly affected his mobility. The blood that was flooding from his wound seemed to slow down significantly, his metabolism quickly trying to fix him.

_If I don't get this out right now it'll only get worse. I can already feel my body trying to heal my leg with this shard still in it. If I don't hurry, it will be permanently attached to my leg._

Clenching his teeth, Hiccup grabbed the shard with its two hands. Wincing at the touch, he tried to focus on the task at hand. A voice resounded from the speakers of the warehouse. Calm and yet authoritative, it ordered the armed men in a soft deep voice.

"Look for him in the warehouse. We have ten minutes before the firemen are here. I want this warehouse checked thoroughly in eight minutes. If you still hadn't find him, I want team alpha near the gates to stall at the firemen so that team beta can finish inspecting the warehouse. In fifteen minutes we all get out of here, no witnesses left behind."

A sense of urgency flooded Hiccup. They finished inspecting the center way sooner that he expected. He had to move fast as he was in a clear line of sight and he was still in no condition to do anything. But despite the urgency of his task, he couldn't help but wonder whose voice it was. When he heard the announcement, he had lifted his eyes up to the office on the side of the warehouse. That's where the leader should have been. Unfortunately, the smoke of the fire was thick and he couldn't see him. When he finished giving his instructions, all Hiccup could see was a large shadow walking to the back door of the office with a glimpse of metallic reflection on his left arm. Apparently he had finished his job here and didn't want to stay here any longer than necessary.

Chasing his thought, he tried to pull the shard out of his leg. It barely moved and already Hiccup was close to pass out from the pain. Giving up on the idea to get this out of his leg, he slowly crawl out of the line of sight to hide behind a corner of a crate near a wall. It wouldn't hide him completely but it would at least buy him some time.

As he was trying to formulate a plan, he heard the police sirens. Apparently the patrol car that had been sent to inspect the warehouse had noticed the explosion and judged that something serious had gone down.

Immediately, orders were shout: "Team alpha, we are moving to the gates. Prepare yourself to shoot at anyone that comes near it. Team beta, pursue the order of Bloody Fist and look for Night Fury."

Dread filled Hiccup's mind.

_I have to do something. Those cops have no idea what they getting __themselves into. They are outnumbered and outgunned, they're gonna get killed on the spot._

Hiccup's mind was racing to find a solution to this impossible situation, but he could hear the police car coming to a stop in front of the warehouse. He could almost imagine those two cops getting out of their car and getting killed on sight. He did the only thing he could. He distracted the thugs by giving them exactly what they came for.

Pumping with adrenaline, he activated Thunderdrum and tore the shard from his leg at superspeed. Before his mind could register the pain flooding from his leg, he ran as fast as he could to the back exit opposite of the policemen. Leaving his trademark scream behind him, Thunderdrum allowed him to hear the men back at the warehouse giving chase. He tried to go as far away as possible from the burning warehouse. As he passed between two warehouses, the pain caught up to him and he passed out.

* * *

_Indeed, it involved three cases, and two of mine. _

Astrid was at the Police Plaza, looking at the two men that had been brought to questioning about what happened at the warehouse 78A. When she got there, Stoick was still there, and he had shown her what they had found. The warehouse had been burned to the ground. Nearly nothing had been saved by the firemen, but there still was some intriguing stuff left.

What first caught your eyes were the dozen of metallic boxes bolted to the ground forming a near perfect circle around the spot where the firemen estimated the fire had started. Each one had an open door on the opposite site of the center of the circle, some of those doors had been deformed by the fall of the burning roof of the warehouse and some was slightly melted from the fire. There were nothing in those box except some soot where the flames had licked the plates. The rambles of the roof had been put aside to reveal the residue of what seemed to be the origin of the fire. As Astrid approached to take a closer look, Stoick started filling her in on the current investigation.

"It's a claymore. After it exploded, the wooden crates caught fire and as no one tried to put it out, it quickly changed into a raging blaze that destroyed the warehouse in less that 20 minutes. We found the body there, completely burned."

He pointed to a spot against one of the metallic box. This one was different. At the bottom of it there was no mark of fire, the marks stopped quite abruptly, you could almost make a shape out of it. Instead of the black of soot, there was the blackened red of dried blood. The place around it had been cleaned of rubbles and numerous yellow investigative number were placed around.

"The working theory is that he got caught in the explosion of the claymore but didn't cause it. Based on the position of what is left of the claymore, if he had triggered it, he would have been blown to the side instead of backwards like that. The M.E. _(for those that doesn't watch cops shows it means Medical Examiner, the legist) _said that he didn't died from the explosion or the fire. Apparently he had been thrown on to that metallic box backward with such force that it shattered nearly every bone in his spine, including his neck. He died nearly instantly, never got a chance to see what was coming. In the rubble on top of him, we found a kalashnikov that had burned with him. It seemed to match the other two kalashnikovs that we found in the truck in front of the warehouse, next to the two thugs we found unconscious. The M.E. took the body, or what was left of it, to try to identify it."

"And Night Fury? You said he was here."

"Yes, when the car patrol arrived, they heard him leaving the scene. It is likely that he had been involved in this incident and that he might have caused the death of the man we found."

Astrid went silent for a moment, trying to process the new information. _There is no denial that Night Fury was involved, but he caused that man's death? That doesn't sound likely._

Stoick left her in her own thoughts. He had his own work to do. This affair gave a justifiable reason to chase after Night Fury. Even if he wasn't responsible, Stoick highly doubted that, he would still have to come forward and explain himself to the police if he wanted to be cleared of the charges. _That's when I can get him_.

Very little evidences had been found for such a large incident: three unmarked Kalashnikovs, but surprisingly none had fire a shot, the few shards left of the claymore, the metal boxes, but absolutely no DNA traces. All organic traces that might had been there had been burned by the fire. After reviewing all that, Astrid did as Stoick had advised her to do. She went down to the station to interrogate the suspects. That's when she understood what Stoick meant by three cases she had been involved in, but only two that were her own. She had immediately understood what cases of hers had been involved when Stoick told her on the phone: the Night Fury case and the new gang investigation. But she did get what was her third interest in this investigation. When she saw the two suspects, she immediately noticed it. Both of them had the same tattoo and their right arm. She had seen it last week and wouldn't forget it any time soon, not after she had been so close to being killed, or worse. On their arm were the same exact tattoo as Tattoo Guy, the tattoo of an ancient, heavy gate.

* * *

**Correction done ^^ Thanks again CreativeRoadblock! **

**Anyway if you have any comment or idea on the story don't hesitate to share, I love to read comment on my story. It always warms my heart that people are interested by my story.**

**It might take a while for the next chapter because CreativeRoadblock will be a bit busy as I will (perks of having a job), but still I hoped you enjoyed and I will try to write when I can**


	7. Chapter 7 - Deal

**Hiccup in a Flash, chap 7**

**I would like to thanks Rapflesh for noticing the references at the longitude and latitude of Berk. I really didn't think that anyone would noticed.**

**Speaking of thanks, I need to thank my friend Guillaume for making want to write again.**

**To answer Dragonchick101, for Hiccup's leg I forgot to reverse the picture of him in my mind and when I realized it, it was too late, I already went with it. As for Bludvist / Bloody Fist it is voluntary, I have something planned for it later. ^^**

**I am sorry for all mistakes there might be in there and if anyone feels up to correct my numerous mistakes please pm me.**

**I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or its characters, just merely borrowing the characters for an adventure of my own.**

**Please enjoy yourself with this fanfic ^^**

**\- Chapter 7 - Deal  
**

* * *

It had been a hell of night for Astrid. After a long day suffering the greasy flirting of Snotlout, she had been thoroughly interrogated by Ruffnut in the evening, then Stoick called her in the middle of the night for a burned warehouse and she had been interrogating the two suspects found on site for several hours before finally getting some sleep in the form of a short nap in the dojo, as she was way too tired to drive back home. She woke up only a hour before noon, when Snotlout thought that exercising in the dojo would be a good way to impress Astrid. That way she would have the amazing chance to awake and tenderly observe his incredible muscles working wonders; his words not mine.

Expect it didn't go as he imagined it to be. He made an awful lot of noise to look impressive and manage to wake up Astrid in a very foul mood and very sleep-deprived. Not a good combination.

In the corner of the eye, Snotlout noticed Astrid slowly getting up, staring at him. Glad that his genius plan was working, he turned to face her while flexing his arms, showing her how strong he was, how gorgeous he looked.

"Hey Babe! You were there? I didn't noticed you, I was just exercising a bit as usual. Do you want to exercise with me? You seem like the kind of girl that exercises..."

Faster than he could react Astrid had punched him straight in the jaw. He fell heavily on the floor, dumb-founded and barely conscious. He will stay groggy like that for the next twenty minutes before he could even considered standing up again.

"For the last time Snotlout, don't call me Babe and never EVER woke me up again!"

On those words, she left the dojo and stomped more than walked her way to her desk. Anyone even looking at her knew all the wiser than be on her way. You could almost perceive the fury of the aura of her angry thoughts.

_ARGHH! When will he ever learn? Even the dumbest guy in the world would know by now that I would rather fight a dragon bare handed than go on a date with him. How could he still think that I am even remotely interested in him?_

She sat on her desk and immediately she went into work mode. Her mind emptied every thought of Snotlout and his annoying flirting to focus the case she had at hand. Or to be accurate the 3 cases she had, the two warehouse case and the Night Fury case. Somehow she had found herself with one gigantic mess of a case with not a clue on how to proceed.

_I didn't get much from those thugs last night. They are some lowlifes that just got told the very strict minima of information. They never met anyone from the gang other than their recruiting guy a few weeks ago. Recruiting guy who just happened to be Tattoo Guy, the guy who tried to rape and kill me. They only received their instructions by phone after that. They knew next to nothing on what happened last night. They didn't even know that there were a claymore or why there were 15 metallic crates bolted to the ground. How could they have not noticed it? Seriously, how dumb are they?!_

She figured she was ought to interrogate Tattoo Guy about that incident but she doubted she would learn anything from him. The only thing she did learn from those two was the name of the gang she was tracking: Helheim's Gate. That was what that stupid tattoo on their arm was supposed to represent. Apparently every member have one by only executives have a more evolved version of it.

_Apparently this gang's name is a reference to some old Viking legends. At least that's what Stoick said._

And to top it all, this already messy case was apparently entangled her own personal quest and case: Night Fury.

_Nobody saw him at the warehouse but there is no doubt that he was there. There is no mistaking that scream._

Her mind drifted on her own memories from a few months ago, as it often did whenever she started thinking of Night Fury. It went back to a night that she would never forget, a night that changed her whole career, a night that changed her whole life, a night that filled her wildest dreams and scariest nightmares with deep green eyes splattered with red blood.

She shuddered and shook her head to chase away those thoughts. She needed to focus at the task at hand.

_Focus Astrid! Try to think. What was he doing there? Is he really responsible for that man death? No, I don't think so but he definitely would know what happened. Does he have some ties with this gang, Helheim's Gate or whatever, or is he investigating them like me?_

She pounder those thoughts for a while before reaching once again the same conclusion. If she wanted answers she would have to find Night Fury.

The only real question is how to find him.

That's when she noticed Hiccup walking to her. Immediately her mind was divided between guilt and angriness upon seeing him. But after the last 24 hours she had and sleep-deprived as she was, angriness easily won the battle. Not wanting to get herself in a argument that she doubt would win, she glared at him angrily when he was about to speak and walked away to lunch, pushing him on the shoulder out of the way.

Something seemed to drift in his look, like a flash of anger but Astrid was just too tired to care. But still as she was enjoying her lunch with a surprisingly silent Ruffnut, her mind drifted back to the previous encounter.

Something was different about him. But what?

* * *

Hiccup was woken up by the strident alarm of his Terrible Terror. He shifted in his slumber, his mind begging him to stay asleep, his right arm moving to shut off that f*cking alarm. That was when he made his first grave mistake. A bolt a pain flew from his arm straight to his catatonic mind and made him jolt in pain. Coincidently it is also when every single part of his body provided his brain an update of the pain they had been dealing with while he was asleep. All at the same time.

Definitively not a pleasant wake up call. But on the bright side, he was now wide awake. It took him some time to organize his thoughts and the annoying beeping of the alarm that woke him wasn't helping. Grunting in pain he lifted his head and tried to take a look around him while all his muscles were protesting against the sudden movement. He was no longer injured, his formidable super healing ability had took care of all his bruise including his wound at his left leg, but all his muscles were still sore and against all form of exercise. Blinking at the bright light, he noticed that it was already late in the morning and that he had apparently passed out in a small alley in the docks.

Slowly getting up, he nearly fall over when he tried to put his weight on his left leg. Even if his leg was completely healed, it was still weak and couldn't support his whole weight. Wincing under the effort, he managed to stand up and watched around him for more clues about where he was. That's when he understood why his Terrible Terror had woken him up with its greatly annoying alarm. It wasn't just a regular _wake you up in the morning_ alarm, it was its proximity alarm, his _careful some people is approaching you_ alarm or in this case: _careful there is two dockworkers approaching behind you_.

For a moment nobody said anything or moved. The dockworkers were shocked beyond their mind to stumble upon Night Fury on their way to work and Hiccup completely freeze like a deer being caught in the lights of a car. After a minute or two where each was watching the reaction of the other, Hiccup decided that he better make the first move.

"Er... Excuse me..."

_Sh*t! I forgot to use my hero voice!_

He started again but this time dropping his voice of a few octaves by vibrating his vocal cords.

"Excuse me, could you please tell me where I am?"

The two dock workers didn't seemed to register that he had asked them a question. Hiccup watched apprehensively for their reaction, hoping that he didn't scare them off.

The one of the left was the first to regain his composure and hesitantly answered:

"Err... You're in Berk."

Hiccup nearly rolled his eyes at the answer. The other one seemed to noticed it and quickly added:

"In America."

This time he did rolled his eyes.

"I was hoping for a more precise location."

The one who reacted first caught on his mistake and corrected himself.

"Yes, of course. Sorry. You're in the Pier 5 near the warehouse 56D and 57D."

"Thanks."

And in a flash he was gone, leaving behind a couple of bewildered and excited dock workers who still couldn't believe they just met THE Night Fury.

* * *

Hiccup was exhausted when he finally closed the door of his apartment behind him. His left leg was still a bit too weak for him to be running at such a speed but he couldn't have stopped and start walking to his apartment in broad daylight in that state. Half-way through he realized he didn't need to ask the worker where he was as his Terrible Terror had its own GPS and was showing him the way home on the lens of his helmet.

_Seriously I only made mistakes since I woke up! At least on the bright sight you could say that I had a good look at them. If I ever encounter them again they might be willing to help._

He knew that it wasn't very likely but he was grasping at straws to try to find something positive among what happened to him since last week.

_I became a public figure and the number one enemy of my father. I am forced to work with Astrid who is still mad at me for some reason, and I have to help to track myself down. Oh I almost forgot, and I also nearly escaped a deadly explosion twice._

He released a huge sight.

_Even when I talking to myself I can't help my sarcasms._

That when he noticed Toothless appearing at the corner and nagging him for food.

"Wait a second bud! Can you see that I am in the middle of an existential crisis?"

But Toothless couldn't care less, he hadn't be fed for the last 24 hours and he wasn't leaving Hiccup alone until he was at least half-full. He started pulling on Hiccup's leg with insistence while giving him his trademark pitiful look with his big cute eyes.

Hiccup couldn't help a chuckle at the pitiful look of Toothless that he knew to be totally fake.

"Alright, alright! You win you useless pet! I will feed you."

At a speed that would have been impossible for Hiccup to follow if he hadn't had any superpower, Toothless ran to the kitchen and waited for Hiccup to come feed him. In his own trademark crooked smile matching the one Toothless was giving him now that he had a can of tuna in his hand, Hiccup served him his favorite food. It was his way to ask forgiveness at Toothless for not feeding him last night. While Toothless started to happily eat his meal, Hiccup sat down on the kitchen floor with a sight.

_And to think that the day had barely begun. How much do you want to bet that it will still be getting worse?_

He started to pet Toothless, trying to find some comfort before having to face the long day he would undoubtedly have.

_After what happened at the warehouse last night I would have tons of debris to analyze and Dad will be all over it seeing that Night Fury had been involved. And I still have to investigate who were those guys from last night. They weren't your everyday thug that's for sure. And that guy? Bloody Fist? Obviously it's a nickname but even more obvious than that was that he had been the one behind that ambush. If only I had a good look at his face._

He felt something nudging him at his legs and look up to find the worried look of Toothless. He had finished eating and, as always when Hiccup felt like this, he was trying to comfort him. And as always it cheered him up. He responded to those big eyes with his trademark crooked smile and a tussle on the head.

"What would I do without you bud?"

He playfully played with Toothless for the next twenty minutes before he remembered that it was about time he went to work.

* * *

As he was arriving at the Police Plaza, Hiccup noticed a huge number of journalist waiting near the entrance. Normally he would have just past it at top speed but today, as his body had begged him to, he came the regular way this morning, by the subway. Apparently his father had asked for a press conference but he had no idea why. He spotted Gobber on a corner, near the stage of the press conference.

As he was approaching he noticed the concern look on Gobber's face. That was an odd sight on the face of a jovial man like Gobber.

"Hey Gobber! What's going on?"

Immediately a warm smile broke onto Gobber's face. He might be the only one he knew, beside Toothless, that is genuinely happy to see him.

"Hey lad! I didn't see you there. How come you're coming so late? Usually you're here by sunrise. I think it might actually the first time I'm here before you."

"My usual mean of transportation broke up this morning so I had to take the subway."

Gobber didn't seem very convinced at the explanation but didn't push it. He looked at him strangely for a moment, like lost in thought, then release a large sight.

"It might have been better for you if you had came by the song of the birds as usual. I might had time to brief you on it before it. Well I supposed Astrid explained it for you."

"Explain me what? I haven't heard from Astrid for three days now."

"Oh!" He seemed embarrassed. "I thought you knew what is going on here."

"Gobber, if I knew it I wouldn't asked you, would I? What's all this fuzz?"

"Well, it's about what happened last night. You father has this idea that I know you..."

Speak of the devil and here it comes running. Those words barely left Gobber's mouth that he was cut off by the huge ruckus of reporters as Stoick the Vast was approaching the stage to make his announcement. Once in front of the microphone, he barely had to raise his hand to restore the silence. Even birds seemed to quiet down. That's the perks of being the Chief.

"Thank you fall or coming on such a short notice. As you know well I am not a man fond of long speeches so I shall be direct. If I call you all here this morning it is to respond to an incident that happened last night. For those of you who didn't heard about it I shall read you the official report now."

"At 10:02 pm last night, we receive a 911 call signaling a suspicious activity occurring in the pier 7 of the docks of Berk, warehouse 78A. A patrol car had been dispatched to this location. At 10:11 pm, a large explosion caused by what we now believe to be a claymore had been spotted by the patrol car on their way there. At 10:15 pm the patrol car arrived at the warehouse that was in flames and heard the characteristic scream of the vigilante known as Night Fury. They also found two other men, known hoodlums of the police force, unconscious and tied up in a truck at the scene. At 10:21 pm, the fire department arrived at the scene and tried to prevent the fire from spreading to other warehouses. At 10:42, the fire was under control and the police force at the scene had been able to inspect the remaining of the warehouse with the help of the firemen. A body was found and, even if a large part of the warehouse had been burn and most of the clues on site had been burned, we managed to salvage some elements for the investigation."

"In the light of the heavy weaponry found at the scene, it appeared that some shady activity occurred in this warehouse as was reported. Moreover this incident has some close connections with the other incident that also involved an explosion at a warehouse a few days ago. Transfer of heavy weaponry had occurred there and similar crates had been found in this incident. Those two incidents are treated as related and are investigated under the same investigation."

Hiccup frowned slightly at the news. _If it is under the same investigation why haven't I been informed of it?_

"Even if the body remains yet to be identified, the current investigation leads to think that he was one of the individuals involved in the reported suspicious activity. He was killed in the blast of the explosion but we don't know yet what triggered the claymore and the remains of a remote mechanism had been found."

Stoick took a small break to assess if he had everyone's attention. Such a precaution was unnecessary, everybody was suspended to his words. Even his own son standing on the side of Gobber, watching him apprehensively.

"However the lead investigators of this case have reasons to suspect that Night Fury had been involved in this explosion and might be directly responsible for the death of this man."

A common gasp was held back by the reporters and Hiccup. Stoick the Vast continued to go on.

"This is why I have here an arrest warrant for the vigilante known as Night Fury. If I asked for this press conference today it is to ask the support of the population. As every body had seen in the last few days, we are dealing with a man of incredible talent and speed making him extremely difficult to track. It is a unique situation that we can't deal with on our own. This is why I asked for the population to keep an eye open for him. Every time someone spots Night Fury he should immediately called 911 to signal his location. It is extremely important that we asked for everyone's cooperation. I will now take questions."

Immediately a huge chatter broke up in the middle of the reporter, every single of them wanted to ask question to the commissioner.

"You."

"Frank Milgam from News One. Commissioner, do you have definite proofs that Night Fury is responsible for that man's death?"

"The investigation is still on-going and can reveal any specific details of what had been found. However even in the off-chance that Night Fury had no involvement in this man's death, it is undeniable that he was present and that he has vital informations on what happened. In every case he should surrender himself to the police."

Another huge wave of _Commissioner!_

"Yes, you."

"Amanda Willers from CNN. Commissioner, do you expect more explosion in warehouses for the next days?"

"Even if those recents incident are related, the investigation current lead is that the explosions weren't the purpose of those involved. Their aim is not to blow up warehouse and we don't expect more to be blown up for the coming days."

Hiccup's mind was entirely elsewhere while reporters continued to assault his father with questions.

_I am now a murder suspect? There is evidence inculpating me? Says who? Ain't I supposed to be one of the lead investigators?_

That's when Hiccup noticed that Gobber was watching his reaction worryingly. _He knew this was coming?_

"You knew it?"

His eyes were enough of an answer.

"He said that the lead investigators suspect Night Fury of murder? Ain't I supposed to be one of the lead investigators? I wasn't even informed of the incident!"

"Yeah, I knew you wouldn't like it. I told your father to not spoke for you."

"Did he spoke for Astrid too or was she aware?"

Again his eyes were enough.

Furious he stomped in direction of the entrance. Time to heard from Astrid again.

* * *

Astrid was washed up when she exited Stoick's office late that day. She had been ignoring Hiccup all day and she was feeling quite guilty about it. She had been extremely rude to him, especially today. Not only did she still hadn't thank him for saving her from that grenade and being mad at him about it but she also stood him up to the working-out she insisted all week for him to do, ignored him since and ditched him by going investigate on her own after lunch. When she came back, he was still busy processing the evidence of the burned warehouse. Up to this point, she still hadn't put him up to speed with the investigation but had spend the last hour informing Stoick of her progress. Which was very small.

After lunch, she went to see Tattoo Guy in jail and asked him about Helheim's Gate but hit a dead end. He was not talking, he was definitively more afraid of that gang than he was of her. She then tried to contact Johann but without success. She visited several tattoo parlor to see if they customers asking them for a tattoo of an ancient heavy gate. Some had done a work like that but none of them looked like the tattoo she showed them.

As she was heading toward her desk to grab her stuff, a hand grabbed her by the collar and pinned her on the wall behind her faster than she could react.

_What's the f*ck?_

Her surprise was met by a pair of dashing green eyes looking straight in her eyes with a ferocious determination.

"We can both play that game."

_What's the hell? Hiccup?! Hiccup had just pinned me on the wall?! Even Snotlout never dared to do that to me!_

But more that the fact he did, what surprised the most was the fact he could. The guy who couldn't run two miles and lift more than thirty pounds had just pinned her on the wall. She was momentarily paralyzed in surprise as Hiccup started venting off his anger. Astrid never thought that he could even be angry. He always took every critics and insults with a brave smile and razor-shaped sarcasms. But here he was, his sharp jaw clenched, his big forest green eyes reading the deepest part of her soul and his gaze illuminated by flames of anger and determination. He wasn't either the amazingly level-headed and calm guy that had impressed her with his goofing around when facing death in the back of truck with her. His presence and authority was all over the place. He was indeed the son of Stoick the Vast. Dumb-founded, she couldn't help but stare at him.

"Now that I have your attention, maybe it would time for you to fess up. Why the hell wasn't I informed of the investigation? And I saw the evidences from last night. Are you really that stupid to think that Night Fury is responsible for that man's death?"

While she didn't react before, Astrid wasn't one to let herself being insulted. Even less by Hiccup. With one swift move, she swept his feet under him and twisted the hand that was pinning her on the wall.

"That's for ambushing me and calling me stupid."

She twisted a bit further his hand.

"And that's ..."

She kicked him in the ribs for good measure.

"... for everything else."

Hiccup couldn't help but yelp in pain at the sudden combo of twisted hand and kick in the ribs.

_Ouch! That will definitively leave a bruise. Good thing that those power came with a healing ability._

Seeing that she was about to leave, Hiccup couldn't stop himself to call after her. After all he did kind of expect that when he thought about confronting her the same she did confront him. But he still had to talk to her, better calm down the tone if he wanted to arrived somewhere. After all, angry and confrontational wasn't really his style.

"Astrid wait!"

The tone of his voice had shifted. There were still some fierce determination in it but the anger wasn't there anymore. It was closer to the usual regular clumsy Hiccup. It was more calm and reassuring and that's what stopped Astrid in her tracks.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have ambushed you like that and call you stupid. It was stupid of me but I didn't know what else to do to finally get you to face me. You've been ignoring me for the last three days."

His voice was vibrant of sincerity and made her turn to face him without she even realized it. Hiccup was still on the floor, trying to set himself up. One hand on his ribs, the other reaching in her direction, he was looking straight at her with a concerned and apologetic look. The bright honesty and apology of his made Astrid feeling slightly guilty about kicking him.

"If that's okay with you I would really like to know what is the everything I just got so viciously kicked in the ribs for."

He finished it with his trademark loop-sided smile. She responded to at his frail attempt at humor with one of her rare smile.

"It wasn't a vicious kick at all. More like a slight nudge."

"I beg to differ. From where I stand, well, stood, it definitely felt more being kicked by a bear than a slight nudge. Ouch! What's that for?"

Astrid had just punched him in the arm holding his ribs.

"For calling me a bear."

"Fair enough. Will it always be like that?"

With a chuckle, she offered him a hand.

"Pretty much yeah."

He look at her for a moment and with an amused sight grabbed the hand offered to him.

"Well I supposed I could get used to it."

As she helped him to his feet, she noticed that he was heavier than he looked. And when he start dusting his clothes, she noticed that he was filling them more than she gave him credit for.

_I wonder what he looks like without his shirt._

Astrid was the first surprised at her own thoughts.

_Get a grip Astrid, this is not the time to stare at him. It's all this stupid Ruffnut's fault._

"So are you willing to explain to me what that everything else was?"

The sudden reminder took Astrid by surprise. She really didn't want to answer that question but she felt like she at least owed him some explanation. After all he did save her life.

"I know I had been acting wrong recently, I just had a lot on my mind and you really wasn't helping."

"What do you mean? What did I do?"

"You did everything. I am the detective here and a damn good one at that. You're supposed to be the nerdy lab geek that I have to carry around like a dead weight in this case. And yet you're the one that had been the most efficient, you noticed a suspicious activity when I noticed squat. You're the one that was joking in the face of death and you're the one that threw himself on a live grenade while I froze on the spot. How can I not be mad? I'm supposed to be the one to show you the ropes and yet you're the one who saved my life. Don't you get how frustrating and incompetent it made me feel! No one is supposed to be that good, except me. Especially you. I'm pretty sure you're hiding something."

"Astrid..."

"And that's not all of it. I always been proud of my observation skills and you just keep getting all my perceptions off. What's the big deal with all that?"

"You just gesture all of me."

"Exactly, all of you is disturbing and is making doubt my sanity."

Hiccup just sighted in defeat. What are you supposed to answer to that? Still if he wanted this partnership to work, he would have met her half-way.

"Astrid, you do realize that nearly all your problems with me is that I don't fit the image you have of me."

"So?"

_That girl! How can someone could so sharp and yet so oblivious?_

"Alright let's make a deal."

"I'm listening."

"We call it even. From that moment on I will forget every rude things you have done to me and I won't hold you a debt for me saving your life. In exchange you will forget every rumors and judgment you had of me and we will do as if we never met each other. We start over as equal partner and we'll learn of each other from this moment on. That way you get to have an accurate idea of me and I get that you'll get mad at me for mistakes I actually made rather than one I should have made. What about that?"

Astrid went pensive for a moment and watched him as he held his hand. She was considering this deal very seriously.

_ It seemed like a fair deal, especially if it was a bit fairer to me._

With a smile, she shook his hand.

"Alright partner, it's a deal. Astrid Hofferson, best detective of BCPD, nice to meet you."

With a crooked smile, he answered her with a chuckle.

"Harold Henri Haddock, aka Hiccup, infamous nerdy geek lab of BCPD, nice to meet you too, partner."

Astrid had to admit that his smile was contagious. She felt incredibly more light-hearted than she felt when she left Stoick's office moments ago. She was glad to have a second chance at this partnership. She had a feeling it would work a lot better than the first time around.

"Well partner, it seems like we got quite a big case on our hands with some pretty limited options. I ran all day after the few leads we had but so far nothing and I don't suppose that your analysis of the evidence got us anything?"

Hiccup could just agreed at this. He had spent the entire afternoon processing every single piece of evidence brought to him but he didn't get anything useful. He only managed to identify the victim: Pete Krockvish, a low-level thug from Miami, recently arrived at Berk to escape his problem with the local justice. No known associate or address in Berk.

"So I don't imagine that you have some brilliant plan for our next move."

As Hiccup looked at her quizzically, she couldn't help her grunt. He looked so smug right now.

"Of course you have a plan. So what's the plan?"

"It might involve doing something stupid."

Astrid just rose an eyebrow.

"More stupid than jumping on a live grenade?"

"Something crazy then."

* * *

**If you spotted mistakes that hurt your eyes, please feel free to point it to me in the link in my profile page so that I correct it and prevent others to be hurt too. ^^**


	8. Chapter 8 - Befriending a dragon

**Hiccup in a Flash, chap 8**

**I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or its characters, just merely borrowing the characters for an adventure of my own.**

**Then without further ado, please enjoy yourself with this fanfic ^^**

**\- Chapter 8: Befriending a dragon**

* * *

Nights at Berk are often calm, especially during freezing winter. It was just too cold outside to feel any motivation to stay out more than necessary. But it didn't make freezing winter in itself is a bad season. Sure it often began with some huge snowstorms and the sky stayed gray during the few hours of daylight but once you got over all that, that's when you can see the real beauty of Berk. At night, the clouds to go to sleep at the same time as the sun, as if they were making way for the soft glow of the moon and stars to shine. During this freezing winter in particular, there hasn't been too much storms and in result there were only a few inches of snow on the streets. In consequence you could observe an elegant coat of snow recovering the glittering light of skyscrapers of Berk rather than the over-bearing padded jacket hiding some specks of light it usually was at that time of the year. It truly was a magnificent night for those who knew how to look.

There was one person however that wasn't in any mood to appreciate the beauty of the night. In a small alley cutting through some small buildings and backyards gardens, standing in the dark, near some shady dumpster, was one very cold and very irritated Astrid Hofferson.

_That's f*cking crazy! How did he got me to agree to it?_

"Hiccup you're there? I don't think that it's such a good idea after all. Wouldn't it better to call it a night and come back with a better plan?"

Sadly only crackling sounds of statics came out of her earpiece. Hiccup was her only back up tonight and he didn't seem to be answering. Having his own part to play, she knew he couldn't be there next to her but it didn't change the fact that she was all alone in that dark alley with only the moonlight for company. She wasn't even armed and felt naked without her gun but Hiccup had insisted that she went without it. Normally there would have been no way in hell that she would ever agree to that. She never left without a gun, and always had one at arm reach, even in her own bed her gun was never far away. And she couldn't ask for backup, if Stoick knew what she was about to do he would have her badge.

_Damn that nerd! He can be really convincing when he want to. Him and his f*cking dragon analogy. As if he knew what he was talking about!  
_

But strangely, something in her mind made her feel like he did.

_What's the hell is he doing? Wasn't he supposed to be near here?_

"Hiccup, it is nearly time. You better answer right now if you don't want me to give you another _slight nudge_ in the ribs!"

This place was making her feel nervous and for good reasons. She stole a glance at the dumpster besides her, overflowing with trash bags.

Being here brought back some bad memories. Everything was still the same. Same corner were she watched her wanna-be rapists came out from, same dumpster she hid behind, ready to fight to her death.

Unwillingly her mind played back the event of that night and her eyes retraced the action. She could remember everything with a staggering clarity. How cold the night felt, how she could still feel the burn of alcohol in her throat from all the drinking, how rusty the dumpster was when she lean onto it, how dirty was the ground she kneed on to watch if her _suitors_ were still following her, how furiously her heart was beating when Tattoo Guy gave the order to search the alley, how it stopped when they drew out their weapon and approached cautiously, how she swear in her mind at her bad luck, how she knew with one peek that she was done for, how dreadful was the sound of a belt being unbuckled.

She shivered despite herself. Recalling every details of all the horrific sexual assaults case she ever work on, heard of or read about, she knew how disastrous things could have been. In the instant she heard the buckle of Tattoo Guy, a million thoughts had clouded her mind. The back up would have never been there in time. She could had try to fight but she would have be shot before she could get the first two. She could had offer no resistance and waited for back up to come but it would probably be too late, it was more likely that they would had take her away. They wouldn't had done their business in the cold and the snow of the alley. No, those bastards would have want to be comfortable, they would had tied her up and took her to a secluded place and in her state she wouldn't been able to resist them more than a few minutes. Between sure-death and being raped she had made her choice in a heartbeat. She would rather died standing like her uncle Finn rather than being humiliated like that.

Then she remembered hearing the scream. She had never heard it before but for some reason she felt relief and hope soaring through her heart. Something was coming for her, something would save her. She didn't knew what or why but she knew it was coming. An impulse more than simple curiosity made snoop her head from behind the dumpster. That's when the scream reached its peak and the first strike hit. She barely saw a blur with sparks as a gush flew by her. One of the gunmen was down on the floor and others had started panicking. One by one, without fail, the scream stroke back again and again until none of her aggressors were left standing. Bewildered, she came out from behind the dumpster and, right where she was currently standing at the moment, she had watched what had been left of that short battle. Three men had been render unconscious, another one was moaning in pain holding his head after a close encounter with the wall and Tattoo Guy was merely grunting on the floor grabbing what was left of his genitals with one of his unconscious men on top of him.

That's when she had noticed him. Her hated savior, Night Fury. She remembered the terrible rage that took over her at that time. The humiliation, the terror and that terrible sensation of weakness she had felt just exploded into her. When she saw him and that again he had made her feel so weak, she emptied her gun on him. Obviously every bullet had missed but she had felt rather smug by her first shot actually grazing him.

While she was smirking remembering their conversation afterwards, she felt another gush of wind pass her and a soft sensation all over her body. She turned to look behind her but nobody was there.

_Strange, I could have swore that ..._

Her thoughts were cut off when she turn around and saw that she was no longer alone in that alley. Here he was, standing in this black leather costume of his, at the exact same spot that the last time they met, Night Fury.

"What's the ... I didn't hear you coming."

"I don't always come screaming."

She felt like an idiot for not having thought of that and tried to not look at him in the eyes. But, as per her habit as a cop, she assessed him from top to bottom.

His black suit was blending with darkness of the place so well that she might have not noticed him if it wasn't for the moonlight. His mask was hiding his features but she felt a hint of pride when she noticed that the graze she made on his helmet last time was still there. _But it isn't the only graze he has now._ She could spot some grazes and cuts all over his suit, especially around his legs. It even had been ripped off and repaired in different places. She noticed the repairs of two large rips on the side of his left thigh and the front of his right leg. Smaller scratches like shrapnel were all over the second rip. _I wonder how he got it? Did he got wounded?_

As usual he wasn't armed - _He don't need to -_ and was calmly standing less than three feet from her. She couldn't read his expression behind his mask but she could learn a lot from his body language. _Wow he is way more muscular than I gave him credits for. This leather suit sure is fitting. You could almost see the beginning of a serious six pack. _While she was expecting him to have some muscular legs from all the running he does, she wasn't expecting him to also have a well shaped upper body. _He doesn't have the body of a bodybuilder like that moron of Snotlout, no, he seems to have shaped his body through experience and practice. This isn't the bulky muscle of a show-off but the lean muscles gain from hours of practices and __exercises. I shouldn't be surprised, I am sure that running at that speed ask for a lot more than just good legs. I mean he would have to always face a lot of pressure from the wind and..._

She then remembered the soft sensation of the wind that just past her. Understanding ran past her face and a familiar braze of anger lit up in her eyes.

"Did you just freaking frisk me?!"

She couldn't see his face but she was pretty sure that he was amused by her reaction. Instinctively she reached for her gun but recalled that she left it behind as per the instruction of Hiccup.

_Hiccup, I swear to God, if that plan of yours doesn't work you will wish that you'd never been born!_

The modified voice of Night Fury did nothing to improve her mood.

"What? I just checked if you were armed. Did you really expect me to not make my precautions after last time? You do remember emptying your gun on me for saving your life?"

If her mind could and a face it would had made a huge grin at the memory. But she did try to keep a serious face.

_Yep, and it was definitively worth every bullet._

"As I told you before, that was because you broke the law."

The chuckle in his modified voice sounded strange but unexpectedly kind of endearing. For some reason, it seemed to soothe her and her anger went down of a few levels.

"You did said that. And if I remember correctly you shot at me for speeding right? You also did promise me to catch me and you set up traps for me all week with your friends of the BCPD."

She answered him in her best devilish smile.

"The perks of being a famous wanted man."

He was clearly amused at their verbal exchange but he knew she wasn't there tonight to verbally battle him, she had something in mind for that meeting.

"Yeah right. So that's what this is all about? Another trap? At least I hoped this one is more elaborated than the previous ones. Because you have to say that blindly running at a man that can move faster than you can see isn't exactly a genius idea."

Even deformed, she could taste the smugness and sarcasm of his voice.

_Argh! Can he be more insufferable? Okay Astrid, calm down, here comes the hard part._

"No I'm not trying to arrest you tonight. I want your help in catching the Helheim's Gate gang. I believe you might be our only hope to bring them to justice."

"You do know that I'm wanted for murder. I'm not currently greatly liked by the justice system."

"I wouldn't ask a killer for help."

"You don't think I killed that man?"

"No, never did."

She has answered with utmost sincerity and without a shred of hesitation. Even her was surprised by how she genuinely believed what she just said. Night Fury looked at her quizzically, surprised by her answer.

"So you'll not try to catch me."

"Oh, I will catch you, no questions asked there. Not tonight, not for the moment but definitely one day."

He sure wasn't expecting that. Nonetheless he was now curious about what she had to say.

"Alright I'll bite. Why do you need my help?"

"Firstly, even if you're breaking the law and are wanted by all of the BCPD, you're a minor threat compared to that gang. You only helped people so far and I believe that they are preparing something big. Secondly, this isn't my idea. My stupid partner thought that someone like you and your abilities would be useful to us and that working with will be far more efficient than just blindly going after you and Helheim's Gate."

"Sounds like a wise man."

"Humph, far from it but moving on. And finally, you have all the reasons in the world to want to help us."

"How so?"

"Well as you said, you're a wanted man and I'm sure you could use some slack from our part. You wouldn't have to always be careful of traps when saving someone. And the public opinion would surely root for you if they learn that not only you've been working with us but you helped us to take down one of biggest gang that ever set foot in Berk. It would gave credits in the opinion's eyes and in the eyes of the justice."

It was sounds arguments and it certainly seemed like Night Fury was seriously considering this deal. He really could use some slack from the police and some recognition would greatly help him to stop criminals. He wouldn't have to let them go after stopping because the charges wouldn't stick, it would his words against theirs. And popular as he was by Berk's justice, he could do nothing about it. But if it were to change...

"You say that you'd give me some slack. So I assume that the Commissioner is onboard with this plan?"

"Well not exactly..."

"What do you mean _not exactly_?"

"He kind of, almost, totally doesn't know about it."

It was one of the most awkward silent she ever experienced. She couldn't help but feel really stupid right now. She didn't know what to say in such situation. Night Fury was the first one to speak again.

"So you propose that I just take your word for it that if I help you Commissioner Haddock, who declared war on me since day one, would somehow magically change his mind and clear me of all charges?"

She could feel the red of her cheeks burning. She had told Hiccup that it was stupid but he had made some good arguments.

"Look here is the deal: we are short on clues and you might be the only person that could help us, you did face them several times. We don't know what that gang is up to but judging by the sheer amount of weapons they had been smuggling in, you could safely bet that it's nothing good. We can't find them without you and you can't stop them without us. You're a wanted man, suspect in a murder, or at best manslaughter case. No matter what you do, everything you might found on them would be inadmissible in a court of law. You need to raise your credibility in the judicial system and someone trustworthy to assert that you didn't made up evidences with that ability of yours, like say the best detective of the BCPD."

She took a breath to let what she said sink in and saw that she had his full attention.

"Here's the plan, whenever you go after the Helheim's Gate you'll bring me with you. I could testify the legitimacy of everything we uncover together and when we are sure on where to bust the leader, we go see Stoick to make the final arrest a full joint effort between the police and you. I can't promise you that Stoick will suddenly like you and cut you some slack but if he want to arrest the gang he would have to publicly recognize he had work with you, otherwise their lawyers could claim that you could have contaminated the evidences with your ability. For the case to hold in court he would have no choice but approve your actions and recognize that you have indeed helped the police and not got in the way. Once the trial is over he might go back on it but still, that would leave you with at least one or two years of tranquillity and credibility in the public and justice eyes."

He stayed silent for a long moment, thinking at what she just proposed.

"You really thought this through."

"Well my partner did. This whole thing is his crazy idea."

"I should really meet him, seems like an interesting fella."

"Well don't get your hopes up, he is more of a behind the scene kind of guy."

He silently nodded at that, not insisting more.

"Alright so if I get this right you're asking me to take you as my partner on the field. My sidekick?"

She could feel his smug grin from miles away.

"Only when it is about Helheim's Gate. Otherwise I'll just hunt you down as usual. And don't get any idea there. You're my sidekick."

He exploded with a low distorted laugh.

"Good luck with that! How should I contact you?"

She was kind of pissed at him for laughing at her face. _Just you wait and see._

"Why don't you just stop at my desk?"

She meant it half as joke, half irritated. It was quite funny to picture him tranquilly seated in front of her desk like a "normal" person. _It would definitely be quite the attraction at the squad._

"Deal!"

And before she could react, he disappeared in a sparkling blur.

* * *

"Phew! Phase one complete."

He took some crazy risks tonight but he didn't had time to pounder about it. He had to quickly change back into Hiccup and prep the computers to act as if he had been in front of them the whole time she discussed with Night Fury. It was quite certain that Astrid would promptly came here completely mad after his last exit as Night Fury. Indeed, no less than five seconds later, Astrid stomped into the hiding spot fuming like a raging bull.

"ARGHH! The guts of his! And does he always has to have the last word?! I swear to God if wasn't running away every time he pissed me off like that he would have been dead since the first day we met. Good thing I don't know who he is right now otherwise I would be in jail for murder."

Hiccup only managed a nervous laugh. He could all too perfectly imagine Astrid shredding him to pieces despise his powers if she ever knew it was him behind the mask.

"I really hope that it wasn't for nothing and you got something interesting from all your gizmos."

Hiccup turned to the screens in front of him, replaying the data he gathered from the discussion he just had under the disguise of his persona with Astrid.

"I didn't really had time to look at all the data but it should be good. I can promise you that we're closer to Night Fury's secret now.

"Good, because I'm not doing that again anytime soon."

"Well just every time he has a lead on Helheim's Gate."

"Every time?"

"That was the plan, remember?"

She let out a grunt. _Yeah, the plan._

* * *

"You want to do WHAT?!"

"Why hunt a dragon when you can tame him?"

Astrid looked at Hiccup as if he had three heads and just told her he was a time traveler alien. While he did was technically a doctor, he was definitely from earth, couldn't time travel - at least as far as he knew it wasn't in his skill set - and most certainly had only one head.

_Taming dragons? What the f*ck?! Did he seriously she proposed to..._ She just couldn't say it. There was only one explanation.

"You're crazy."

Hiccup couldn't help but rolled his eyes. He did warned her.

"Look, while I have been prepping for my plan, you just spend the entire week going after him according to my dad's plans. Did you get any closer at all to catch him?"

She had to admit that they didn't. They got multiples calls all over the city indicating them the position of Night Fury whenever he appeared or was heard coming but it didn't get them anywhere. By the time they got the information he was already long gone. So they changed tactics but with even less success if possible. They tried to trick him into isolated places with officers in ambush by giving false back up requesting on the radio but he just taunted them. He always came, even when an exceeded Stoick openly challenged him on the police radio to face him, but he was just too fast. After arriving, he made sure to stand near every person present then he just waited in the middle for people to come at him. When they were less than a feet away from him he just ran away. He was never violent. Even encircled, he didn't force his way out, he just climbed over the persons on his way.

Needless to say that it had been a very irritating week for both Astrid and Stoick. Even more so for Astrid as he always stood next to her first when he was taunting them. As if he wanted to make especially fun of her. So as one would expect, she was ready to jump at any idea that might help catch him. But that plan...

"No, we didn't. He's just too damn fast."

You could see that she was extremely reluctant to admit it but she was just too exhausted and frustratingly craving for an idea. She couldn't delude herself pretending otherwise out of wounded pride. Hiccup couldn't help a smile at how badly it costed her to admit it.

_Good, my taunting hasn't been for nothing then. Now she might actually agree to my plan._

"Well then, let's stop running after him and make him work with us."

"No way in hell I'm doing that. We don't need him!"

"Hear me out here. We both agree that Stoick was wrong to blame Night Fury of killing Pete Krockvish in that warehouse. So my question is this: what was Night Fury doing there?"

She looked at him to see if he really believed she was that stupid.

"He went there to answer to that report stating some suspicious activity at the warehouse."

"Exactly! And we know that he didn't try to kill that man so where did that claymore came from?"

She seemed to think about it for a moment.

"It could have been one of the weapons they were transporting that fell over and armed itself. But not only it's extremely unlikely but we didn't found any other claymore or explosives in the warehouse. They could had set it up themselves but they would have been no way that they would stay near it like that. It is more likely that a rival had set up a trap for the thugs of Helheim's Gate. It must had been them hiding in those metal crates to protect themselves from the blast. But they didn't expect Night Fury to come. They must had stole the shipment that were transported by Helheim's Gate after the claymore exploded but before Night Fury came. He must had saw the explosion, neutralize the thugs that were left and flew when the police car arrived as there was nothing more he could do."

"Interesting theory but I saw several problems with it."

A frown appeared on her face. _What did I miss? _As if he was reading her mind, he explained.

"Why would they left the remaining thugs if they were to stole something? They could had attacked them on their way out with the shipment. Same thing if they were there to deliver a message. Why leaving them to Night Fury to deal with? Also why all these preparations? Why bother bolted to the ground huge metal boxes, hide fifteen people and a claymore to just deal with three thugs? It's way more trouble than it's worth. And if it was a trap for the thugs of Helheim's Gate, how come they had time to load half the truck? Based on the forensics, most of the crates where beyond the claymore, they had to pass in front of it."

"But if there wasn't a trap for Helheim's Gate then they must have put the claymore themselves, we came back at the same problem: why would they stay near it?"

"What if they didn't know?"

"They had to know, you just said it yourself! Otherwise they would had triggered it ages ago."

"What if they didn't know it was a claymore?"

"Ha?!"

He smiled seeing the evidently confused Astrid. It was such a rare sight to see her like that.

"What if they didn't know it was a claymore?"

"What did they thought it was? A kind of detector? Something to detect if someone passed there? It doesn't explain why they would stay that close to it. Moreover why even put there? I mean it was right next to them, it would be useless. They would have saw a person coming long ago."

"And if that person was Night Fury?"

"Then they would have never saw him unless they had something to detect when he passed next to them." Understanding was drawing on her face as she was slowly joining the dots. "If the guys in the metal boxes told them that they would came out as soon as the alarm is triggered, the thugs outside made extra sure to not trigger it. And if they stay so close to the claymore it was because they were instructed by the guys in the boxes to do so, to be sure that Night Fury would trigger it when he came at them."

"How were they sure that Night Fury would came?"

Everything was clear now, it explained everything.

"They called him there themselves, they reported the suspicious activity so that Night Fury would come. The whole thing was an ambush to Night Fury by Helheim's Gate."

Hiccup broke into his usual crooked smile as Astrid ended up at the right conclusion. It had been a set up for Night Fury and that changed a lot of things.

"Exactly! That's why we need Night Fury help."

"How so?"

"For two reasons. First, he already encountered the Helheim's Gate twice as far as we know it. Not only does that make him a valuable witness but with his power he might have seen or noticed way more than anyone."

_I suppose it make sense. At the speed he can go he might had time to take a really good look at some of the men of Helheim's Gate._

"And second, he was ambushed by Helheim's Gate. It wasn't something improvised, it was meticulously planned. I bet you that they will try again, giving us a chance to catch them."

Astrid wasn't liking it one bit but she knew he was right. Still Hiccup could sense that she wasn't going to be onboard with it. He decided to play his last trump card. It was something he was hoping he didn't have to do but, if played right it could actually help him a lot. It was a double edge sword at high stakes.

"And finally there would be one more reason why we need him to work with us."

Her eyebrows quirked up in interrogation. _One more reason?_

Hiccup took a long breath and said it as determined as possible:

"To catch him."

Astrid gave him her best predator smile.

* * *

"Yeah, yeah, I know the plan. He isn't someone you can hunt by conventional way. Like a dragon it is better to try to befriend him rather than face him head on. I will get a better understanding of him and he might slip up clues about who he is. Moreover it would give you the possibility to analyze him for weakness with diverse disguised captors."

"Not just looking for weakness but understanding everything about him. How does his powers works, how did he get them, what are his limits, what consequence it could have on him and all those fundamentals questions we don't have a shred of a clue about. We know far too little about him and his powers."

Astrid gave him a death glare. She couldn't care less about knowing more about him, she just wanted to know how to catch him.

"Admit it. You just want to play with your gadgets."

He ignored her and went back to study the results. He had hide a large array of captors for tonight. He had hidden it in the dumpster where Astrid stood next to and hide the extremities of those captors with trash bags that were tactically overflowing from the dumpster. It took him a week to get the authorization and hide those captors. But it had been worth it. He now have all sorts of readings from his conversation with Astrid: thermic, electromagnetic, velocity, air readings ... He took every gizmos he could from Gobber and took some of his own invention too for tonight. He wasn't doing that just because he said he would to convince Astrid. He could gain a lot from it.

First was Astrid's trust. If he showed her some real involvement and progress in the Night Fury case, she would start working with him and keep him in the loop. That way he could know if they were getting close and when would they try to lure him in a trap.

Second was that he was unofficially in charge of all analyze of Night Fury. In the off chance that someone in the department also thought it could be interesting to analyze him rather than blindly charge at Night Fury, this person could have asked someone else to do the analysis and not inform Hiccup of any progress. Now all measuring and readings would go to him. Not only he could control how much they get to know about him but it would also greatly help him with his third reason.

Finally, he would get the chance to analyze himself. If the incident of the warehouse of last week and the claymore had taught him one thing is that overconfidence in his own ability could be deadly. He needed to know exactly what he can and can't do, he needed to know his limits. That way he wouldn't have to sneakily take some equipment pieces by pieces hoping Gobber wouldn't noticed. Now he could openly take as much equipment he needed from his forensic lab but, if played right, he might even receive some founding in doing so. Moreover he might finally get him the chance to understand how his powers were working.

But of course it was at huge risk. For all of this to work he would need to show some real progress on the case otherwise they would just gave up on the idea or worse, give it to another person. He had to be extremely careful with his findings too. Astrid was clever and might deduce who he is if he wasn't careful.

_This whole deal could quickly become a huge headache. I do hope it's worth it._

But if he had to judge by the preliminary results this could be quite the discovery. He just needed some time to analyze it and he couldn't wait to begin with it. But he wasn't doing that in the hideout in the backyard he made for himself, he needed to bring all of it back to the Police Plaza.

* * *

It had been a long day for Astrid. She went to sleep pretty late last night as she helped Hiccup bring back the equipment to his lab at the Police Plaza. There were no one else to help them as it wasn't something approved by Stoick. They had to keep it low for the moment if they wanted for it to work. And while Hiccup had stayed lock up in his lab all day to study the data from yesterday night, she had been running all over the place to find some clues about Helheim's Gate. She managed to reach Johann and schedule a meeting at the docks for the next day. As her tour of tattoo parlors brought no results, she tried to question every informant she knew about the arriving on the black market of a huge load of weapons. Again she had no luck there.

It was now pretty late in the evening and she was seating at her desk, trying to find more information about Pete Krockvish. Contrary to the other two found at the scene, he wasn't from Berk and they never saw him before. So there is a chance that he had been contacted differently. Moreover those two thugs told her that he had been the one in charge. They also told her that for some reason he wouldn't help them load the truck and refused to move from his spot, even if it wasn't the best place to keep an eye on things. Even weirder, he insisted that they never walk in front of him but go all the way around him. In all likeliness he was the only one who knew about the guys in the metal crates.

_He might had been of a higher ranking than those two. If only I could retrace his steps in Berk._

With a sight she headed for a coffee.

_No matter what I do, no one has any information on him once he had set foot on Berk. I don't even know where he lived!_

As she was filling her mug, she started getting lost in her thoughts.

_Speaking of no information whatsoever, how the hell will I contact Night Fury? He is my best clue and he left without telling me anything. He just made fun of me._

She unconsciously tightened her grip on the mug at the memory of it.

_ARGH! Did he has to piss me off like that?! Now I can't get it out of my mind!_

Walking back to her desk, she forced herself to calm down.

_Calm down Astrid, there is no use to get mad at the jerk. Try to think of a way to contact him. Last night we manage to get him to came with a false alert. Hiccup thought that if we played on the police radio the same alert at the time and same place than when he first helped me after making his public appearance, he might understood we are trying to tell him a message. For some unknown reason it seemed to have work. Maybe we should do the same thing again?_

With a grunt she sat down heavily on her chair.

_Urk! That mean I would have to go back at that place again? I certainly do hope it doesn't become a regular meeting spot._

While she was brooding on her own thought she heard someone clearing his throat to gain her attention.

"What Hiccup? You have some results?"

In a sense she wasn't wrong. As she rose her eyes she found herself face to face to Night Fury mindlessly sitting in Hiccup's chair.

* * *

**I hoped that you enjoyed this chapter. Please review ^^**


	9. Chapter 9 - Sweet baby Thor in a

**Hiccup in a Flash, chap 9**

**I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or its characters, just merely borrowing the characters for an adventure of my own.**

**First sorry for the long delay but it had been crazy weeks lately. I had to do two movings at the same for me and my family. I just began some much needed ****vacation time this Monday. The sad fact is that I had already wrote more than half of this chapter weeks ago but never had time nor the energy to finish.**

**This chapter is a bit shorter than the last because I had writing way more than I thought with the discussion between Hiccup and Astrid and writing what I originally wanted to write in it would have been too long so I decided to keep it for the next that should be quite good.**

**I introduced a new character and should introduced or detailed some more in the next chapter as I have some massive plot and story to tell. Actually I planted some hints of it for a few chapters now, I hoped you will enjoyed.**

**Another reason why this chapter is a bit shorter is that I wanted to quickly publish a new one to answer the request of Supergoddad and all those who ask for it. Thank you so much guys for it, your reviews is my fuel for motivation. Otherwise exhausted I was I would definitely took at least one more week to finish it.**

**And lastly to answer secret love writer's review, I'm very sorry for the grammar and other mistakes. I'm not a literary guy but more of a science guy and grammar never really was my strong suit, especially in english that isn't my native language. To correct it here it is what I proposed: on the google doc of the link I'll post the chapter I just published and you could correct every mistakes you noticed while reading my story. I will regularly looked it up and update my chapter so that it wouldn't hurt the eyes of the next reader. But please to do so in another color so that I noticed the changes I must make.**

**I put the link on my profile (it tried to put it there but it just wouldn't take it).**

**Then without further ado, please enjoy yourself with this fanfic ^^**

**\- Chapter 9: Sweet baby Thor in a thunderstorm**

* * *

Astrid's mind just couldn't process what she just saw. It couldn't be happening, it shouldn't be happening. Night Fury was sitting in front of her, in the middle of the detective squad, nonchalantly giving her a side look. Before she had time to think about it, she was yelling.

"WHAT THE F*CK!"

Instantly heads turned around as the few detectives left in the squad looked at her. They tried to see what made her react like that but she was staring at the empty seat in front of her. The detectives of the BCPD were no stranger to Astrid's yelling and crude language but usually it was always somehow justified or they could just easily guessed what made her scream: Snotlout, the coffee maker, Snotlout, the computer, Snotlout, Ruffnut, Snotlout, Night Fury, Snotlout, Tuffnut, Snotlout, a suspect, Snotlout and as a recent addition Hiccup. They were even bets running around to guess how many times and at what she would pissed off for the day. However it seemed to have been none of the above as she was just standing in front of her desk staring at the empty space in front of her, with none of the usual suspects in sight.

"Astrid?"

Astrid was at loss for words. She only managed to produce some gibberish that sounded like "b*stard", "f*cking smiling" and "sitting".

"Astrid, are you ok?"

There was a concerned tone in the voice that just spoke and that would normally infuriated Astrid. But the one who dared to ask her if she was ok was Fishlegs, one of the few that managed to rarely get on Astrid's bad side. Fishlegs was of the same generation of young detective as Astrid and was one of the few she helped and coached to enter the rank of the fine detective of BCPD. She mostly helped him to get in shape for the physical exams.

He wasn't a talking fishbone like Hiccup was as a teenager nor a moron thinking with his muscles like Snotlout. Already as a teenager Fishlegs was a tall blonde with blue eyes and you could easily spot him in a crowd by his large size. Well in a crowd of teenagers, not one of full sized Berkians that were nearly all as imposing as him. One of the reasons he was rarely on the bad side of Astrid was that he was a lot more level-headed that the mouton-heads she usually hanged out with. She even managed to accept his nerd side and constant blabbing about random facts. He was a huge fan of comics and superheroes and was particularly interested in super villains. This passion for villains pushed him to start digging in criminal psychology and allow him to meet a person that shared a same interest in the domain: Astrid. She soon became his best friend and he happily chattered with her on the subject for long hours.

Even if Astrid wasn't as interested as him in criminal psychology and in comics, she had to admit that it definitely gave him an edge in understanding the criminal mind. She had actually enjoyed coaching Fishlegs, he has shown a lot more seriousness and investment in it than the twins or Snotlout. Sure she had yelled at him more than once for talking too much or tending to be a bit too absorbed in his reading, preferring Freud to exercising but he had earned her respect by the genuine effort he had made in getting in shape.

Now even if Fishlegs stayed a rather large person -his mother makes incredible meatballs- he had serious muscles hiding being a small layer of fat that he combined with an incredible stamina and resistance. Occasional sparring partner of Astrid, he was one of the few that could stay cautious on the mat of the dojo after an hour of exercise and sparring with Astrid. He is the kind that wouldn't budge no matter how much you punch him and calmly wait for his chance to strike back. He won't be very useful to run after a criminal but he is one that you want to have your back when you're surrounded.

To his dismay he was the current partner of Snotlout and was currently rewriting the report of Snotlout, if you could call it that a report, when Astrid had yelled in the middle of the squad. As he knew that there was no way that Snotlout would be anywhere near the detective squad if there was a report to write involved, he couldn't help but wonder what could have upset her. As he looked in her direction he was left quite puzzled. Then when he noticed the lack of elocution of Astrid and the absence of the usual suspects, he couldn't help but be worried. As he asked her if she was ok, she just blankly stared at him, not saying a word. As he was about to move over to her, she seemed to recover from her shock and quickly bolted into life.

"Sorry Fishlegs, I must have imagined things. It is pretty late after all."

Fishlegs side-glanced the clock on his desk.

_9:34 doesn't even come close to the definition of 'pretty late' in Astrid Hofferson's dictionary. And imagined what things? What's going on here?_

She offered him one of her rare small smiles and silently sat back in her chair.

Fishlegs continued to stare at her while other detectives went back to their occupation. They were just too tired to care about another one of Astrid's spurts of anger. Only Fishlegs was intrigued at how strange it had been.

_This is weird. She didn't reply that it wasn't my business or vent off her, yelling at me her anger. According to past experiences of when Astrid had sworn that loudly, there was a 62% chances that she punches who or what made her mad after yelling, 33% chances that she continues to yell and 5% chances that she quietly lets it go. In reaction to my question there was a 76% chances that she yells at me to mind my own business, 12% chances she tells me about it, 10% chances that she doesn't answer my question and 2% chances that she apologizes. But 0% chances that she smiles__.__ Even weirder she apologized AND smile at me before quietly getting back at her work. This is just too weird._

Fishlegs knew that despite this odd-challenging moment that just happened, he won't learn anything by questioning her. He was not suicidal enough or crazy enough like Ruffnut to dare try to interrogate her. Nervously he went back to his work and try to concentrate on his report. 10 minutes later, he was finished and glad that this long had been over. He was sick and tired to run after Night Fury. As he was stretching his back, he noticed a slight light on the corner of his eyes. He turned around but saw nothing, not even Astrid.

_Her coat is still here so there is a 59% chance that she has left to the dojo to express her frustration at whatever made her yell earlier. Better not bother her if I don't want to end up like a punching-bag._

Then his mind wandered back on what happened before and how strange the whole thing had been.

_What happened there? Maybe I misinterpreted things. Maybe she was just surprised at something. It wouldn't be far off that as I am used to her yelling from anger that I thought that she was angry. I don't have much data from when Astrid is surprised. What could have surprised her like that? Did she have an unexpected __break-through in one of her cases?_

* * *

Surprisingly Fishlegs was right on all accounts. Yes she was at the dojo, yes she was expressing her frustration at the very moment, yes she yelled earlier out of surprise and yes she had an unexpected break-through in one of her cases. But let's start over from when Fishlegs was nervously sitting down again and was trying to concentrate on Snotlout's report. At the same time Astrid was sitting at her desk, glancing furiously at the chair in front of her, trying to process what just happened.

_Did I just imagine it or did that son of a half-tr*ll rat-eating munge bucket just sit in Hiccup's chair?!_

After a few minute of staring contest with the chair, she tried to focus on what she was working.

"Try not to yell this time."

She took a sharp breath but managed to control herself. It was barely above a whisper but there was no mistaking this voice. Putting on her deadliest stare and scariest scowl, she calmly met the gaze of Night Fury. Like last time, he was nonchalantly sitting in Hiccup's chair and was waiting for her to notice him. With what she assumed to be a smile, he softly spoke to her.

"Good evening Detective Hofferson."

The nerve of him was more than what she could take. Barely managing to keep herself from going above a loud whisper, she started to sermon him:

"Sweet baby Thor in a thunderstorm, what were you thinking?!"

"Wow that's quite a mouthful! How do you even come up with stuff like?"

"ARGH! How do you manage to be so infuriating?! How did you get here?! Never mind that. I swear to Thor you will drive me crazy before the end of the week! You do realize that you're in the middle of the Police Plaza, in the very center of where every cops in the city is looking for your sorry ass. Do I need to remind you that if any detective looks in this direction there would be hell on earth? It would be like a declaration of war. Stoick, I mean Commissioner Haddock would stop at nothing to catch those who came to taunt him in his own home. And do you even realize in how much trouble _I_ would be?!"

Hiccup couldn't help his smirk.

"Thor? Really? Who even says that?"

Astrid sighted in defeat. _There is no reasoning with that guy. He's either extremely crazy or extremely stupid. Maybe both._

But she had to admit that she was quite impressed by his guts. He was in the very center of the enemy camp and remained perfectly calm. He even managed to joke around and acted like he didn't have a care in the world.

With a slight sigh she answered his question like she had hundreds of time before. She was sick of people making fun of her or looking at her strangely for her old habit. As always she decided to play the joke so that people would either shut up or take it as a joke.

"I believe in the ancient Nordic Gods."

"No, seriously? How come? I didn't even know there was still people believing in them. How do you practice your faith? Do you have to do some ancient rituals and hide a battle axe under your bed?"

There was such an honest curiosity in his questions that she couldn't help a small smile. _He's not that far off for a part of it._

"No, I was joking. The reason I refer to Thor like this is because of my parents. They are quite religious people and ever since I was small they had strictly forbid me to swear at God. So I had to come up with an alternative..."

"So when you swear you always refer to Norse Gods?"

"Well, not exactly. I was often made fun of it because of that habit so I try to correct myself and use some more culturally adapted swearing but sometimes I just forgot myself and fall back in old habits."

"Really? That's a shame! Today's insults are so unoriginal, it's nice to hear something different for once. Even if it supposed to be directed at me."

Even if he was wearing his mask, she could feel his smile. She could feel its warmth and it felt genuine. She was at loss for words and couldn't stop her blushing. It was the first time in a long time that someone words had actually touched her and she felt like a weight coming off her shoulder. She shyly turned her head away so that he didn't notice her blushing. That's when she saw other detectives and remembered where she was.

_Wow! I almost forgot myself here! How did he do that?_

She was quite embarrassed that she had started to explain herself like that. She usually never does that, even less with an alleged killer, but for some reason it just had felt natural to do so.

_Get a grip Astrid! You need to get rid of him before it became a disaster!_

"You can't stay here, you need to go! No one can see you talking to me."

He merely shrugged his shoulder.

"You're the one who told me to meet you there so here I am."

"I wasn't serious, I didn't think you'd be crazy enough to actually do it!"

Night Fury responded with a warm smile.

_How do I freaking know that he's smiling at me? How can I know that?!_

"I didn't come just because I'm crazy and wanted to make fun of you. I'm not that crazy, it was just an added bonus to tease you a bit." She was about to respond to it but he didn't leave her time to do so. "I came here because I have something of interest for you about what happened at the warehouse where that guy died last week."

Astrid was now all ears but she couldn't help but nervously glance at the detectives around her and to Fishlegs that was muttering under his breath. He was always doing that when he was proofreading a report, meaning that he would soon be finished. Then he would unmistakably spot Night Fury sitting in front of her.

"This is great but you can't stay there. Go hide somewhere."

"Where would be a better place?"

"I don't know, the dojo? I am usually the only there at this time. Anyway, anywhere but here. Go there, wait for people to go home then I'll meet you there so that we can decide of a meeting place and ..."

She never got to finish her sentence. The next moment everything around her seemed to merge into a blur and she was standing in the middle of the dojo. It was an exhaling moment at what she guessed to be moving at extremely fast speed but she couldn't really appreciate it much as she was taken over by a slight nausea. She had catch herself to the wall to not fall down.

"Sorry. The same happened to me the first time. But afterwards you get quickly used to it, most people don't even feel it. It might have been because they were in immediate danger when I rescued them."

Astrid glared angrily at him.

"Never do that again."

"I'll give you a warning before hand to prepare yourself next time."

She went to punch him but two things happened. One, he easily avoided her while laughing and two, her legs was still a bit shaky and couldn't hold her anymore. Before she had time to register what was happening, she was falling. Quick as always, Night Fury grabbed her hands to keep her steady, standing less than a feet away from her. For a long awkward minute, they stayed like that while she was trying to get a hold of her legs. And her speeding heart.

"Are you okay now?"

She could hear the concern in his voice and slightly blushed. _Oh_,_ Freya! This is so humiliating. I swear he'll pay for that!_

She then realized that she could actually get her payback much sooner than she expected. _I might come out on top from this humiliating moment_. With a sadistic smile, she sprung into action while she still had the opportunity.

She spun around herself and pulled her hands above her shoulder. Hands that were still grabbing Night Fury's hands. Surprised by her sudden move he didn't notice it until it was too late. Thrown hard onto the ground by a shoulder overthrow, he cringed in pain when his back had a close encounter with the ground. When he opened his eyes, Astrid was sitting on top of him with his arms pinned under her legs. Cracking her fingers, Astrid was preparing herself to release weeks of frustration.

Hiccup spotted the dangerous light that lit in Astrid's eyes. Gulping, he tried to speak as calmly as he could, not wanted to show her that he was at her mercy. All of sudden, all the teasing he had done the past week didn't seemed like a good idea anymore.

"Err... Astrid? What are you doing?"

Her smile grew larger as she look down at him.

"You don't intend to beat me up right? Why would you do that? You and I are allies."

A fearsome light grew bigger in her eyes.

"I believe that you and I have some unfinished business."

He nervously swallowed.

"Really?"

A punch in the guts was his only answer.

"That's for frisking me."

He couldn't help the twitch of pain. With his reflex he saw it coming but pinned down as he was, he couldn't do anything to stop it. The only thing he could do was clench his teeth and contract his muscles upon impact.

_Thanks God, the lightning also gave me some abs._

Before he had time to recover from the first punch, a vicious right hook had a close encounter with his ribs.

"And that's for everything else."

He could only formulate a grunt of pain. She was really no pulling punches here. He could already feel his super healing activating itself all over his body.

_I'm so glad that she wore boxing gloves when we sparred. Otherwise I'd never let her punch me so much._

Astrid looked at Night Fury twitching in pain with satisfaction. She hadn't felt this good in weeks and she could already sense stress flying off her shoulders.

"Now time to see what you're hiding behind this mask."

Panic flew all over Hiccup's mind as Astrid was reaching for his mask. He just couldn't let her do that, he had to do something. As fast he could he shook his right arm pinned under Astrid's leg. But it didn't budge, she had her whole weight onto his wrist. He grew more desperate as her fingers were reaching his helmet and started shaking his arm even more violently. Ignoring the strange sensation growing into his arm, he continued with the energy of despair to move his arm even faster.

_If I could just shake her off..._

Suddenly he somehow managed to free his hand and grabbed Astrid's right wrist and spun her around, effectively inverting their position.

"What the ..."

She didn't had time to register what happened as she suddenly found herself pinned on the ground, Night Fury on top. Frantically and slightly out of breath, he tried to make her focus on something else before she made another attempt at his mask. Or tried to punch him again.

"Now I believe that we're even. Surely you've clearly expressed all the frustration I ever caused you and don't need more payback, right? How about we get down to business?"

An angry pout went decorating Astrid's face. Clearly she didn't agree with him but she also knew that now wasn't the time for personal grudge. That would come later. Reluctantly she nodded and waited for him to get off her. She took the hand he graciously offered her and her mind went back to detective mode.

"Alright what was so urgent that you need to barge into the detective squad and kidnap me at my desk?"

"Kidnap seems a bit of a strong word, maybe something like took for a ride?" She simply glared at him. "Alright, kidnap it is. So if I wanted to see you it's for two reasons. First how do we keep in contact. I assume that even if you invited me to do so you might not want me to '_barge in'_ and _'kidnap you'_ every time we need to talk."

He suddenly threw her a phone that she easily catch with a flick of the wrist.

"Show off!"

She looked at him with a smirk while raising her eyebrow. "Look who's talking. Ain't you the very personification of a show off with your leather suit and shrieking cry?"

"Fair enough. I just gave you a burner phone. There is only one number of this phone and I have the other. I might not be able to answer all the time so leave me a message in that case. I will call you back immediately after that."

"Why did you just give me your number? Why bother with a burner?"

"The phone is a burner but I rigged it so that it can use the network I have set up in Berk. You and I are the only one to have access to it. Even if you've lost the connection on your regular phone, you should still have access to mine in Berk. That way you should always be able to reach me."

"You build your own phone network?"

She could hear a hint of amusement and pride in his voice.

"Yep but only in Berk. And it comes with the added bonus that you can't track my phone down so no need to try to track me down with it."

She grumbled but said nothing. She had indeed thought of that when he told her his phone number was in it.

"The second reason I wanted to see you is that I have the proof of my innocence in the death of that man on the warehouse and it might also contain some clues for the investigation against the Helheim's Gate."

He definitely managed to pick up her interest.

_The proof of his innocence? How did he managed to do that?_

He grabbed something from the inside of his gloves and offered it to her. She took it warily and watched what it was.

"A USB key?"

"Yes. It contains footage of what happened to at the warehouse last week. Some part of it is a bit damaged by the explosion but it should still be useful. You might find some clue in it."

In all honesty Hiccup didn't think that it would help. He had personally examined it several times but had found nothing interesting in it. Those men were good and knew what they were doing. Nothing had been left to chance and he was left with no clues whatsoever to investigate. But showing it to Astrid should increase her trust in Night Fury.

"Really?! How did you get it? There was no camera at the warehouse and all the cameras around it had been _mysteriously_ destroyed. I swear, those bastard really thought it through."

Hiccup had a small smile at her reaction. It always amazed him. Ever since he started talking about the investigation, she had totally forgotten about her previous anger and was focused solely on the case. But there was something more to it. She seemed more cocky and confident and smiled more easily than when he was with her as Hiccup._ She spoke to me as an equal and act more open, more honest. As if she was more herself around me._

His thought were interrupted by a glaring Astrid.

"Oy! Are you there? With your ability I won't be surprised if you actually weren't and was like a projection or an hologram or some crap like that. I asked you how did you get it."

"Oh yes, of course. Actually it is from my helmet."

"What are telling me that you go around wearing a camera on your head? I mean come on! I think I would have noticed if you did."

A smile crept into his lips as he watched her disbelieving face.

_She is just so cute to tease. _

"As a matter of fact I do, you of little faith. I managed to create lenses on my helmet that are able of augmenting reality. To do so it has to capture its surrounding to analyze it before adding whatever information it sees fit on the lenses. I just made it so that he would also register all it sees on a distant server. It is actually a necessity for me."

"How comes?"

"Well, you have to admit that I'm not exactly on friendly terms with the police. So they won't legitimate the arrest I make. They only reluctantly process cases when they are witnesses of the crime or if they were on the scene. They won't take care of criminals I arrested based on solely my word. But even if they did, a lawyer could easily discharge it by saying I framed his/her client. With my ability to move faster than the human eyes it would be difficult to prove otherwise. That's why I saved the footage of everything I do, that way I can prove that the arrests I make are legit."

"Why didn't you give those sooner? It would have cleared you."

"I couldn't as long as I didn't have someone to trust me. Otherwise it would have just been thrown away, saying that I have faked the footage. With modern day's technology it is not far fetched."

Astrid had to admit that she was impressed. As much as she hated to admit, Night Fury was the real deal and one hell of a genius. Not only does he create his own advanced technologies like his own network and augmented reality lenses, but he also had seriously invested himself in the hero business.

_He already thought it all miles ahead of me. If it were me I wouldn't have thought of any of it. I would more likely blindly go ahead without thinking of the consequences._

As he was looking at her with what she guessed was slight worry at her staying silent for so long, she gently nod her head while she was still processing her own realization.

"I understand."

He wasn't sure what she understood but assumed that she spoke of why he had the footage.

"Alright then. Now that I gave it to you I better go. Otherwise if I understood you correctly before, it would be crazy for me to stay any longer, right?"

The news of him leaving put Astrid's mind back on track. She wasn't expecting him to leave so soon and she found herself almost wanting to find some excuse for him to stay.

_What's the ... Get a grip Astrid! Remember, you're only doing this to catch him later, you have a revenge to take._

Shaking her head, she faced him with her trademark scowl and looked at him straight in the eyes. Well, augmented reality lenses of his helmet as she now knows.

"Damn right, you better go. And don't ever do anything like that or deal or no deal I'll kill you!" She stressed her point but stabbing him in the chest with her finger.

He rose his hands defensively while stepping back. _She sure can be intimidating._

"Alright but you have to admit that it was quite funny. You were completely flustered!"

Her scowl grew deeper while she was trying to prevent her cheeks from becoming red of embarrassment. Her struggle only made it more amusing to Hiccup to watch. He couldn't help but tease her some more.

"So do you want me to bring you back to your desk?"

If a glare could kill, Hiccup would have no doubt to have just died at least seven times.

"I'm joking. No need to kill me."

Her glare softened but not by much.

"Well I better go. Warn me if you ever find anything about the Helheim's Gate, partner." And with a blur with small purple sparks he was gone.

Astrid let out a huge sigh. She had a feeling that it would not be the last time she would be exasperated at him. Then a smile crept on her lips while she kept rehearsing his last words in her head.

_Partner definitely has a nice ring to it._

* * *

**Please review if you liked it.**

**_If you noticed any mistakes, please indicate me at the link on my profile._**


	10. Chapter 10 - Eret

**Hiccup in a Flash, chap 10**

**I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or its characters, just merely borrowing the characters for an adventure of my own.**

**To answer some reviews: no Z, not everyone will die but that doesn't mean that some won't ^^ And Willman55, yes I have an idea of how Astrid will discover who Night Fury is and I quite like it, I hope you will too.**

**And I would like to give a huge thanks to secret love writer to have took the time of correct my mistakes. I hope that you could continue to help me.**

**Then without further ado, please enjoy yourself with this fanfic ^^**

**\- Chapter 10: Eret**

* * *

Hiccup knew he didn't have long before Astrid barged into his office but he hadn't expected her coming so soon. He barely had time to change back to his normal clothes and start filling his computer screen with some experimental results before she erupted into his office. Office might be a bit of a stretch. It's the forensic lab of the BCPD but as he was one of the rare people to actually use it and by far the one that spent the most time in it, it was common knowledge that it was considered his office. Nobody argued with him as most of Berk's cops didn't consider forensic science worthy of their time. Hiccup always found it strange that in this modern day and age there were so many people with such backward thinking, however in the end it wasn't that surprising. Berk had always been a strange city with even stranger people. Some might say that Berkians even have stubbornness issues.

But again, Berk hadn't always been such a big city. Actually Berk was still a small fishing village with barely a few hundred inhabitants there a mere three decades ago. But 26 years ago, a mysterious benefactor gave millions of dollars to Berk to invest in renovating the village and its surroundings. It allowed the mayor to renovate the whole port and that gave a boost to the local economy. The news of such miraculous money circulated fast and soon it attracted locals from nearby villages to settle in Berk where some new workers were needed. The population exploded when a major port was built a few years later. Two years after that port was built, large amounts of oil were discovered nearby. It was near the coast of some islands fifty miles away from Berk, making Berk the main passing point for all those ships. A miraculous stroke of luck for the port had been built much larger that what was needed and was costing the city huge amounts of money.

But some bad luck also happened very soon after that. Not a month after the discovery of the oil, a tragedy that marked Berk's history happened. A cargo ship crashed into the harbor, killing dozens of people. When the rescuers climbed aboard the cargo ship, they discovered that the entire crew of the ship had been viciously dismembered and left bleeding to death. The cargo ship had crashed because no one was alive on board to steer the ship. Despite the gruesome massacre, no clues were found about the perpetrators. Nowadays it remains the most gruesome and unsolved case of the BCPD. Coincidentally, the donations of the mysterious benefactor also stopped at the same time.

This tragedy and the loss of the benefactor's money that the city hall had grown to depend on had been a hard blow to Berk. Half of the harbor had to be rebuilt again and the people were still shocked by the cruelty of those murders. A total of 46 people had been killed and some still remain unidentified to this day. It could have been a tipping point towards ruin if it wasn't for Berk but the BCPD department, lead by Stoick The Vast as the newly created position of Commissioner. The city had been losing money and eventually would have been bled dry with the construction of the harbor and the exploitation cost of it. They hadn't been worried until then because of the regular donations and the money that was coming from the impromptu chance of the discovery of oil. But now the donations stopped and the port was half destroyed by a cargo ship with dozens of mutilated corpse on it.

As the people of Berk were losing heart, Stoick's doubled energy and effort reassured Berkians of their safety but also actively helped with getting a group of volunteers to rebuild the harbor. The sight of the commissioner working hand in hand with volunteers cleaning the remains of the tragedy was filmed by a national TV news crew, present in Berk to film the aftermath of the tragedy. The whole nation shared the sorrow of the Berkians and especially the grief visible in the face of their Commissioner. But they were also inspired by the fighting spirit, the will to never give up that seemed to radiate from them. While others might have grieved to themselves and quietly left, the Berkians showed a stubborn and unyielding spirit. Those who saw those images couldn't help but be impressed by the sheer strength of Stoick the Vast, lifting large parts of walls all by himself and being everywhere at once. This amazing spirit and testimony of the Berkians soon inspired all kinds of people to move to Berk. First it was mostly to help the island get over this tragedy but in the end most stayed because of the unusual atmosphere and traditions of this place.

Now there weren't only fishermen on Berk, the new arrivals were coming from all over the country, all with different jobs and specialities. Offices began to be built then the city hall had to cope with the massive growth of the population and started building schools and a hospital. From that point on, every year the population of Berk kept rising and Berk continued to develop in size until it became a large city. It was one of the most rapid growths that a city had ever experienced in America in a long time. Such phenomena hadn't been seen since the last Gold Rush. But even if Berk itself had undergone such a massive change, the people there didn't change much and even rubbed off on the newcomers. Most of them were quite happy to pick up some of the unusual traditions that made such a unique city. Like the curious fondness for nicknames or the love for working out, making the average Berkians a bunch of massive people. It even became a curiosity that attracted tourists every year.

But among the tradition that Berk kept, they were some in the BCPD too. For a long time Berk didn't have any use for forensic science. Why would they? They were just a small village and there was no crime necessitating such expensive methods. They mostly needed to be able to catch and arrest the guy who was running after a petty larceny. Berk cops always made fun of all the forensics gizmos in TV shows, claiming that they didn't need all that showy, expensive stuff to catch criminals. Those claims and mockery was how such a tradition of mocking forensic science in the BCPD took its root until nowadays. Moreover as most of the cops were Berkians for generations, they grew up hearing that kind of stuff all the time and, to top it all, the charismatic Commissioner Haddock was the perfect embodiment of this tradition. He often openly disliked this part of police work, always saying that it would only get in the way of real detective work. And nobody disagrees with a legend such as Stoick The Vast.

Nonetheless, despite most Berkian criminals being simpletons and being relatively easy to catch, attorneys began to make their appearances in Berk and a real need for forensic science and irrefutable proof appeared; a gut feeling wasn't proof enough for a judge. But that didn't make Berk's cops appreciate forensics any more and Hiccup still had to fight off his stubborn father that always strongly disapproved his calling. But enough of a history lesson of Berk. Let's go back to the moment where Astrid barged in the lab -also known as Hiccup's office- and Hiccup released a silent sigh of relief as he just finished to set up his equipment and create his alibi that he had been here all along.

"Hiccup! I have something that needs to be analyzed immediately!"

He didn't need to turn around to know it was her. While he continued to work on his analysis he merely grinned while answering her.

"Hello to you too Astrid. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Don't be such a smart ass. I brought us a lead in the investigation on the Helheim's Gate gang."

He quirked an eyebrow while turning to face her.

"Really?"

"Well Night Fury brought it to me but still it might be a major break in the case."

Hiccup knew that it was coming and that the next part would be tricky for him. He had never been really good at acting but he had to act surprised if he didn't want to look suspicious.

"Really?! When did you meet him? I thought that the last time you met him he left before you could agree on a future meeting place?"

"Actually about that... this... enormous jerk actually thought it would be a good idea to visit me at my desk."

He sincerely tried to act surprised. But it resulted in a seemingly surprised expression with a slight smirk narrowing his lips as he remembered her reaction when he sat in front of her as Night Fury. Her expression had been priceless.

"Really? Here at the Police Plaza? Did anybody else see him?"

Luckily for him Astrid was too eager to watch what was on the USB key and mad at the memory to notice Hiccups falsely surprised reaction to the news of Night Fury inviting himself to the Police Plaza.

"Yeah the jerk was here but no, no one saw him. Can we please look at what he gave me? I don't really want to talk about it and he said it was footage of what happened at the warehouse last week. It got me really curious and to be honest I was hoping it might also give me clues on Night Fury on top of the Helheim's Gate."

Hiccup wholeheartedly agreed to that, not wanting to keep acting surprised at everything Astrid might say.

"Alright. Do you happen to know where does this footage come from? I thought that every camera in the area had conveniently been out of order."

"Yeah. Apparently he used some kind of gizmo in the lenses of his mask to record his actions in case he had to present it to court."

"Smart."

Astrid glared furiously at him.

"What? It's true."

She couldn't deny it, not after everything she learned from Night Fury. As much as it pained her to admit, Night Fury had really thought everything through. But even if she was ok to work with him that didn't mean she was going to start complimenting the guy. After all she was the one that was going to catch him.

"Just show me the footage."

"With pleasure but you still have to actually give it to me." He offered her one of his crooked smiles while a slightly blushing Astrid gave him the USB key that she had tightly held in her hand.

With a fluid movement he plugged the USB key into his computer and opened it. Normally procedure stated that he first had to check the key for virus or any compromised part in it but being the one who gave it to Astrid he knew that there was nothing of any kind on the key. He didn't really want to bother going through the complete procedure and moreover he highly doubted that Astrid would have the patience to actually wait for him to scan the key.

There was only three files on the key. A file with an unknown extension in .hhh3 that Hiccup knew to be the original footage, an executable file and a video file.

"The hell?! What's all that stuff? Why do you need three files for a mere video footage?"

"I don't know, I'll check that later. For the moment I'll just open the video file."

He knew exactly what all of it was but couldn't explain it without having to explain how he knew it. When he started to record the footage of Terrible Terror he faced a technical issue. He needed to record what it was doing in high speed but recording everything at an extremely fast rate was too much data for what it was worth. It would take a ridiculous amount a data to record a simple moment. But if he was filming everything at different speed for when he was using his power or not, it lead to a bunch of different files that couldn't be put together because of the difference of format between normal and superspeed.

So he applied to this problem a project that he had worked on in high school but never found any applications for it: the adaptative speed rate file format. It was a format that could accommodate different speed rate of a video in one file. Basically it would keep the same high resolution of the recording but would be able to support sudden changes of speed rate in the video. It would be better than having to cut a video at different parts for each speed rate. The problem was that it couldn't be read by normal video players. So he had to create his own video player for this new format. That's the executable file of the USB key, it contained the program that he wrote to read videos at his special format and the possibility to export it in a common video file that would follow every change in speed rate at a speed that make movements visible to the human eye.

To resume he gave the original footage of what happened, the program to read it and the version of the footage that had automatically slow motioned his every action in a generic video file that could be read by any video player. He could have just given the adapted footage but it could have been reported later that it was an edited version of the footage which was technically true. Just in case he also gave the original footage without the slow motion. Every time he used his speed it would be just a blur for everyone except Hiccup. But again he couldn't just explain all that to Astrid without her having some serious suspicions. He just launched the adapted version of the footage for Astrid to see.

The footage started from the moment he was about to knock out the two thugs near the truck. When one of the thugs approached the other with a small crate, the timestamp started to slow down while the camera was moving toward the thugs. They were quickly subdued and unconscious and the camera started moving toward the last thug that was sitting on a crate, armed with a kalashnikov. Astrid immediately recognized him.

_This is the body that was found: Pete Krockvish._

He seemed to be moving incredibly slow compared to the camera while he was swiftly disarmed and knocked out cold by Night Fury. The camera immediately moved beyond the thug and suddenly a warning notice appeared on the right side of the screen. Turning around, the camera was facing an armed and active claymore. The timestamp seemed to be moving even slower as the camera was running for cover. The camera was about to reach the cover of a large crate when it got blown away by the explosion.

It was somewhat strange to watch the camera slowly being thrown through several crates to end up against the wall and a pile of destroyed crates in a far corner of the warehouse. The camera was facing upwards at the ceiling of the warehouse when the timestamp began to move at a more regular flow. As the slow-motion stopped, the sound came back on the video.

Astrid paid more attention as the sounds of metal boxes opening were heard. Everything was burning and she could see the scorch mark where the claymore had exploded. In the burning smoke you could see men appearing on the screen, emerging from the strange metal boxes found at the warehouse. They were wearing black military uniforms and were heavily armed. They were nothing like your regular thugs. Notifications appeared on the screen notifying the camera of the weaponry of those men while an alarm went on about an injury at his leg. The camera began to move to try to watch what was going on. Those men were currently looking for him in the immediate area of the explosion. As they were not an immediate danger, the camera moved to Night Fury's legs.

While the camera tried to move, some part of the data appeared to be corrupted on the right side of the screen. Night Fury had warned her that some parts had been damaged by the explosion. But you could still see quite a large part of the left side and that a large shard of a wooden crate was currently embedded in Night Fury's leg. As he tried to reach it he quickly backed away as it seemed that the smallest movement was extremely painful. As he stared at the shard trying to think of his next move, a deeper analysis of his wound appeared on screen. It was quite deep but there was no permanent damage. Actually, much to Astrid's surprise it seemed that the bleeding had already nearly stopped.

_Wow! That's insane. Not even a paper-cut heals that fast._

Night Fury tried again to reach for the shard and with some strangled winces of pain as he was fighting to stay as silent as possible, he grabbed it with both hands. This was when a deep and authoritative voice resonated in the speakers. But it was also strangely soft and calm.

_"Look for him in the warehouse. We have ten minutes before the firemen are here. I want this warehouse checked thoroughly in eight minutes. If you still can't find him, I want team Alpha near the gates to stall the firemen so that team Beta can finish inspecting the warehouse. In fifteen minutes we all get out of here, no witnesses left behind."_

Astrid heard a barely audible "sh*t" and watched the camera try to move out of the direct line of sight of those men as they were about to spread out. As it moved it quickly tried to look at the office at the side of the warehouse where he spotted the one who just spoke but the metallic glimpse he saw earlier through the smoke was gone. Once the camera was hiding behind a corner, Night Fury tried again to pull the shard out of his leg. The shard barely moved and he nearly bolted backward in pain. For quite a while the camera continue to stare at the shard while Night Fury was thinking and trying to catch his breath.

Suddenly police sirens were heard and nearly immediately orders were shouted:

_"Team Alpha, we are moving to the gates. Prepare yourself to shoot at anyone that comes near it. Team Beta, pursue the order of Bloody Fist and look for Night Fury."_

Astrid couldn't help the cold chill that ran down her spine. She knew that if those officers arrived at the scene they would be as good as dead. There was no way they could have fought off an ambush of men as organized and as heavily armed as them.

Apparently Night Fury thought so too as the camera frantically looked around for anything that could help but the sound of the sirens were quickly approaching. You could already hear them coming from the front of the warehouse. That's when Night Fury decided to spring into action.

The sounds began to slow down as well as the timestamp. With one hand he quickly pulled the shard and got up and began to run. After he quickly swung near the group of armed men to be sure they heard him leaving and ran to the exit at the opposite side of the one by which the cops where coming. The camera passed several warehouses and small alleys when it suddenly fell on the ground and the image on the screen froze alongside the timestamp.

"Alright, that's it. That's the end of the video."

It took some time for Astrid to register what Hiccup just said and realized that the video had effectively ended.

"Wow! That was something... I mean I already knew the gist of what happened but knowing it and seeing it are two very different things."

With all the dodging bullets and nagging that Night Fury had been doing, it never really occurred to her that despite his superspeed that Night Fury could actually be hurt while doing what he's doing.

_He always seemed faster than anything. But I guess that he too is taking risks out there. It's not just some kind of game without consequences for him._

While she was meditating on her thoughts, Hiccup was trying to guess what she was thinking.

_I hope I didn't leave too much on it. Normally there would be nothing that could be a clue on who Night Fury really is. I mean I even corrupted parts of the video._

The truth was that the camera hadn't been affected by the explosion much but he used that excuse to hide some parts of the video. When the claymore exploded he used his metallic leg to protect his flesh one. However it damaged his costume and there was a large rip in his costume on his right leg, revealing the metal prosthesis underneath it. If she knew that Night Fury had a metal leg it wouldn't take long for her to figure it out. So he corrupted parts of the video, especially parts where he looked at his legs. He just hoped that it wouldn't look too unnatural.

His thoughts were cut off when Astrid emerged from her own.

"Well, let's start. First let's get a better look at those men from those crates. Which part of the footage do you think has the best view of them?"

Hiccup took a moment to show that he was thinking about it, as if he hadn't already watched every nook and cranny of this footage and didn't already know the answer.

"I'll say when Night Fury is leaving and swings by those men. It's probably the time he got the closest to them."

"Alright, let's see it."

Hiccup quickly set up the video for it to start at the right moment and began to move forward slowly. Astrid was focused on the image on the screen, trying to find anything even remotely close to a clue. Hiccup observed her from the corner of his eye and marveled at how beautiful she always looked when she was focused and determined.

_Her expression is the cutest when she is thinking like that, nibbling her lips in concentration. And those eyes!_ He felt like he could get lost for all eternity in those big blue eyes.

Actually he was so lost in it that he nearly didn't hear when Astrid ask him to stop the video. Startled and slightly blushing, he tried to hide the fact that he was admiring her rather than watching the footage and quickly stopped the video. He looked at what Astrid asked him to stop.

It was when he got the closest to one of those men. He was the same as the others : black military boots, black pants with shades of grey to make a military camouflage, a black bullet proof jacket on top of a black sweater. His face was hidden behind a black mask, leaving only the eyes visible. They all held an M-16 rifle in their hands and had a Glock 17 attached to their right leg. A logo was on the right sleeve that Hiccup knew to be was one of the Helheim's Gate tattoo variants, also featured an ancient heavy gate. It was the ancient heavy gate of Helheim's Gate but above it was a fist dripping blood. But he couldn't make more out of it as it wasn't in any databases of the BCPD or federal agencies he had access to.

He looked at Astrid and saw a large grin on her face. He quirked an eyebrow and she just smiled at him.

"I've seen that before."

As Hiccup looked at her quizzically, she clarified her thoughts.

"I've seen this logo before."

"Really? Where?"

"Remember last time you ambushed me."

Hiccup cringed at the memory but silently nodded.

"I had just visited the tattoo parlors of Berk to know if anyone had asked for a tattoo of Helheim's Gate. No one had done such a tattoo but several had done a work similar to it. One of them was this exact same logo."

Hiccup's eyes grew wide open. He didn't think that showing this footage to Astrid would lead anywhere and here she was finding a lead not even five minutes after watching the video he watched for hours.

"What are you waiting for? Let's go."

He quickly glanced at the time on his computer: 9:37pm.

"Won't it be closed at this time?"

"If I remember correctly, it closed at 10pm."

"And where is it?"

"Madison avenue and 37th street."

"What?! But that's on the other side of the city. It'll be impossible to get there in time."

He immediately recognized the grin on Astrid's face. He'd seen it not even twenty minutes ago before she started punching him when she was on top of him as Night Fury. Her smile grew larger as a dangerous light lit her eyes.

"That depends on how you drive."

He couldn't help the cold chill that ran down his spine.

* * *

_Never again._

That was the silent promise he made to himself when they finally got back to the BCPD. It wasn't even half past ten and they already had done a roundtrip to the parlor at the other side of town. What took the longest was for the employee to find who had asked for such a tattoo.

Feeling a bit sick, he took a look at the gleeful face of Astrid. Driving like a mad man and scaring Hiccup really had been the highlight of her frustrating day. It had been such a long week and there finally was some good news. She thoroughly punched Night Fury, Thinking back this might have been the real highlight of my day, find a clue on Helheim's Gate and found a suspect to pursue. She took a side glance at the white face of Hiccup.

_It was really fun to scare him like that. I should do it more often._

Hiccup couldn't understand why he had been so scared by Astrid driving. He had done stunts way more dangerous than that and he's used to go a lot more faster than her car. But it was one thing to do it yourself and be the helpless passenger in a speeding car with a blaring police siren. When he was running, he was in control, knew what was coming and what he would be doing. But he had no fuc*ing idea what was going on in Astrid's mind. He was seeing everything coming and couldn't do a thing about it. But he didn't know how Astrid was also seeing it coming.

_I'm really starting to wonder if she wasn't also hit by lightning._

"Well, what are you waiting for? Get a move on. I want to know more about this guy."

Breaking out from his reverie, Hiccup quickly followed her as she was moving to her desk. Swiftly she turned on her computer and began to search for their suspect.

"Here it is. Eret Twice. Originally from Boston, he is a low-life thief that moved in Berk 5 years ago when majors research labs opened in Berk. After a rap sheet of petty theft and larceny, he began to form a crew of burglars that decided 9 years ago to specialize in stealing research results and expensive equipment from labs. They are known to either blackmail companies for them to get back their results or selling it to the highest bidder at auctions. They nearly got him in New York so he moved here to Berk. He apparently had been on surveillance for the last 6 months but disappeared under the radar two weeks ago. They're thinking he might have been aware of the surveillance and changed states."

Astrid stopped reading for a moment.

"But that's strange, the employee in the parlor said he had this tattoo made last week. That means that he's probably still in Berk."

"Maybe he disappeared because he was doing a job. Has there been any robbery since he disappeared?"

"Are you kidding? They're like forty robberies declared every day. And they also don't say anything because they have something illegal to hide."

"Hmm... You said he had a crew. I supposed they were also under surveillance, did they also disappear?"

She selected the report concerning the surveillance and began to quickly read it.

"Apparently, they all disappeared the same day but out of the eleven members of the crew, three had been found dead, completely frozen in the ocean last week. Some fishermen found them floating."

"Alright, there is a fair chance that the rest are still in Berk. What's their M.O?" **For those who don't know, M.O means Modus Operandi, latin to describe the specific way you are doing something. Hiccup is here asking for how they usually do their burglary.**

"According to the current investigation, first they do some reconnaissance on their target and spot what could be the hurdles. Then the night of the burglary, they lure the guards into traps where they are waiting in ambush and tie them up. Once the security's subdued, they start going for their target, using different construction equipment to force their way according to the obstacle they had planned to encountered during the recon. Drills for safes, lifters if they going to steal expensive lab equipment, etc... They're cautious to leave no trace behind and we never got enough evidence to arrest them. They're also often armed and dangerous. Even if they try to avoid unnecessary bloodshot, they won't hesitate to shoot to kill. They have opened fire on a patrol who stopped at a lab to investigate a silent alarm. One officer was heavily wounded and the other killed."

"They're quite a crew. No wonder we were keeping them under surveillance. But ain't they a bit too much organized for criminals acting in Berk? Such an M.O should stick out like a sore thumb among other reported burglaries. Do we have any report of a similar burglary occurring in the last two weeks?"

Astrid began to scan the report of burglaries happening two weeks ago but couldn't find anything remotely close. Most of the stuff were regular solo or duo jobs, nothing necessitating a crew. Slowly she began to go through the cases that happened this week. There again, she couldn't find anything. Then she noticed that a report had just been added to the submitted reports. As she began to read it, the more she was going through it, the more her eyes grew wide.

"Odin's sh*t! Why wasn't I informed of that?! Which dimwitted half-troll idiot filed this report and didn't inform me?"

As she saw the name on the report, her growl took on a dangerous tone.

"Obviously, Snotlout."

"What didn't he tell you?"

She raised her eyes to meet Hiccup's that were sitting at his desk. It was odd to see him sitting there after Night Fury had just sat there a few hours ago. And yet it felt strangely familiar. She shook away her weird thoughts and started explaining.

"There's a report that was submitted an hour ago about a burglary that happened 4 days ago. It matches the M.O of Eret and his crew. They lured the security into traps and took some large crates that they loaded into a large truck with lifters they brought with them. It had been done quieter than they used to and even took extra care of not being seen even in disguise by cameras and left no clues of what happened. They even erased all tire traces of the truck and lifters. We only know what happened from what the security heard when they were subdued."

"And Snotlout was the one that investigated it. Knowing my cousin he didn't bother filing paperwork before today. But why does that make him a dimwitted half-troll idiot? Not that I disagree."

"He is a dimwitted half-troll idiot because what was stolen was in our custody. They targeted the warehouse dedicated to large sized evidence that we can't keep in the Police Plaza. And guess what was stolen. The metal crates used in the ambush on Night Fury last week."

"What?!"

"They probably want to make a second attempt and that moron Snotlout probably thought that it was of no importance. Either way I specifically told him to report everything to me that had to do with my case! I'll fu*king kill him!"

"Wait, you're saying that the warehouse filled with evidence was attacked by Eret's crew and they only took those metal crates? How come nobody talked about such a massive intrusion in this warehouse? We should have heard if something was taken from it. Especially evidence."

Astrid merely shrugged at the question. She had calmed down a bit and could guess what happened.

"Remember what we did all week? It was a Night Fury all-out chase. Everybody, including myself, were way too busy to deal with an intrusion where just metal boxes were taken. They hadn't touched any cars or other large valuable object that were waiting there as evidence. Nobody gave a damn about some useless metal boxes. But that's no excuse for that dimwit."

Hiccup sensed it was better to drop the subject before she went hunting down Snotlout this late at night. Not that he had anything against the idea but he would much prefer that they focused on Eret Twice.

"But that's strange though. Why target the evidence warehouse? And why take those crates? I mean it's nowhere close to his favorite targets. It isn't a lab and that was no expensive equipment. So why bother stealing it? Was it an order from Helheim's Gate? If so they should be able to afford new ones, there was nothing special about those."

Those were good question that Astrid didn't have any answer to offer.

"Well, you can ask Eret when we catch him."

His eyebrows went up in a silent question.

She merely grinned at him, enjoying knowing something that he didn't. He finally gave up and asked.

"Alright, I'll bite. How'll we find him?"

"With detective work."

* * *

**That's it folks! If you enjoyed this chapter, please review.**

**If you saw any mistake, please correct it in another color for me in the google doc I indicated in my home page.**

**ANNOUNCEMENT:**

**For the next chapter I tried to fix myself a deadline. As I would be quite busy, the next chapter would be the 21st September with a surprise for you guys. See you at the end of summer!**


	11. Chapter 11 - Detective work

**Hiccup in a Flash, chap 11**

**I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or its characters, just merely borrowing the characters for an adventure of my own.**

**So yes Foxmorgoth, Hiccup's leg is just partially removed. I imagined it to be cut from just below the knee and that's the part that were exposed when the suit was torn in the warehouse. As I reminder I'm sorry I got the leg wrong. I forgot that Hiccup's left was my right when I was imagining him in my mind ^^**

**To answer thisguyiknow, the deadline was on the 21st because it's been exactly 6 months since I began this story and I wanted to do something to celebrate it ^^**

**So the deadline is up and it's the 6 MONTHS ANNIVERSARY of this fanfic. It's been exactly 6 months since I first publish it and I promised you last time a surprise for the next time. So to celebrate this 6-months anniversary I offer you TWO CHAPTERS INSTEAD OF ONE! ^^ **

**Then without further ado, please enjoy yourself with this fanfic ^^**

**\- Chapter 11: Detective work**

* * *

Hiccup growled a bit as he was trying to think of something else than the freezing cold. He was back at the harbor of Berk after a short night sleep and a waking call from Astrid at an ungodly hour. She gave him ten minutes to be at the Police Plaza, ready to _beat the street_ and accompany her to visit her sources. Being back at the same place that two weeks ago, he could only assumed that they were going to meet Trader Johann. As to prove his point, Trader Johann just appeared at the corner that Astrid was watching like a hawk.

Hiccup was happy to see Trader Johann, another hour waiting in this cold and he felt like he would become an icicle. But being as he is, his mind began to go off-track to protest to how ludicrous this idea would be on a scientific base.

_After all even if my body is made at 80% of water it's not nearly enough to be considered an icicle that he is made nearly solely of water. It's true that most icicle have impurities in it, foreign objects that..._

His mind kept on arguing like that until Trader Johann was finally close enough to greet them.

"Lady Astrid, jewel of the crown of the fine BCPD. How can I be of service to you?"

Ignoring the pompous greeting, she went straight to business.

"I need information on the leader of a burglar crew that operates here in Berk."

"Oh my, straight to business as usual Lady Astrid. What do you need to know exactly?"

"Where is Eret Twice?"

Trader Johann merely blinked a moment before answering.

"I've heard of this fellow, I never met him obviously. But he has quite a reputation. Not all bad if I have to say. It actually reminded of a nice fellow I had the pleasure to meet during one of my numerous travels. He was a rather successful diamond cutter that managed to have both a elogious and terrible reputation upon his work. You see, he had this troubling habit of..."

Astrid began to growl when she saw that Johann was beginning to do his usual ranting. She didn't have the patience for that and Hiccup promptly judge it would be best to intervene before things turn ugly.

"So you know Eret Twice. Do you know where he's right now?"

Johann was a bit annoyed at being interrupted like that but nonetheless answered, being the perfect gentleman he deemed himself to be. And a gentleman doesn't take offense for such a minor disagreement.

"Alas lad, I'm afraid I'm not quite sure of where that fella might be. Rumors as it that he left town but personally I don't think so. You see it appears that some of his crew members had been found dead, quite nastily at that, a mere few days ago. It gives me every reason to believe that he is still in Berk. But where? I'm afraid I'm in no position to tell you lad."

Hiccup couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. He had hoped they would be able to quickly find Eret but if Trader Johann didn't where he is, his chance to find Eret seemed quite slim.

"Nonetheless, I have to say this Eret is quite the persona. Apparently his father was a brilliant hunter specialized in traps and he taught him everything he knew when Eret was still a young lad. He loved his father and he made his father proud by his talents as a trapper. However his father died from disease when he was merely 13 and he slowly engaged himself in a dark path. He first made some petty larceny but quickly realized that he would earn a lot more if he used his knowledge of trapping for his crimes. He quickly made a name for himself and started to form a crew that he would train himself. He made it large enough to face any situation but small enough so that every member is needed."

Astrid had no interest in the life story of Eret but the last part got her attention.

"You said that every member is needed in the crew?"

"Sure I did Lady Astrid. They can't work with one missing, each having his own specialty. It avoids betrayal when sharing loots as they would need one another for the next job."

"Three of his crew members died so he had to replace them. I'm sure you heard someone looking for three persons with specific specialties in the last couples of days."

"Well... I did hear of someone needing a fence in large equipment, a fighter and a driver. But I didn't think more of it, it's not something that unusual to look for new members."

Astrid knew otherwise. This could her first serious lead.

_Finally something I could work with. I can't wait to put my hand on him._

"And I supposed you don't know where they were supposed to meet the recruiter?"

"You know all too well how this work Lady Astrid. You just give them a name and they take care of contacting the guy."

A knowing grin appeared on Astrid's face. Trader Johann recognized it for having seen it way too many time to his taste. This was the smile that always indicated that things won't go well for him.

"Seeing how you went everywhere and know everybody there is to know, I suppose you might have given a name of your own Johann."

He knew he couldn't lie to her if he wanted to live another day and was feeling more and more uncomfortable.

"I may have said to some people that I knew someone with decent driving skills and a certain flexibility in morals that some might not approve."

"Why am I not surprised?" She had a knowing grin, it was exactly as she expected.

"But Lady Astrid I assure you it was never in my intention to help some criminals."

"And I'm sure you shared that information with fine example of honest citizen with no criminal past whatsoever."

She got him and he knew it. But that didn't stop him to try to defend himself.

"Everyone is allowed mistakes Lady Astrid. It's just that some of my acquaintance may have made more mistakes than most. But that doesn't mean they're bad people either."

Astrid could guess what kind of good people those could be. The Berserkers for example.

_More mistakes than most might be the understatement of the century._

"I want a name Johann."

Johann seemed clearly shocked that she dared to ask him that. Hiccup had to admit Johann was an extremely talented actor.

_I really wished that I had half of his talent for acting. It would be really useful in the near future._

"What?! It is utterly ridiculous Lady Astrid! You know that I have a very strict policy of protecting my friends' privacy. Even if you were to threatened me I won't budge, I am a respectable man with principles that can't be accommodated with. Even for you Lady Astrid!"

He threw a side glance to the amused face of Astrid. She clearly wholeheartedly enjoyed this exchange that she knew beyond doubt that she would win. She always does.

_Seems like his talent won't be enough to fool Astrid._

"Your _friends' _privacy? Really?" Johann answered nothing and met Astrid's gaze, refusing to back down from his stance. "But you're mistaken Johann. I'm not asking you to betray anything. After all, as you said you're a man of principles that one can only respect."

Even if he knew it was flattery Johann still was soothed by the change of tone of Astrid. But he couldn't help but stay apprehensive of what was coming next. Hiccup was simply enjoying the show.

"Thank you Lady Astrid, it's very kind of you. It is rare for someone to appreciate my personal policy to its just value. Nowadays no one seems to understand the importance of having principles."

"You're perfectly right Johann. I respect and admire that in you. It is why I even dare say that we are friends."

"But you'll be right to think so Lady Astrid. It is my utter privilege to count you as my friend."

Johann seemed really pleased at such show of respect from Astrid, it was something he clearly wasn't used to.

"Glad you think so Johann. So it wouldn't be a problem for you to tell us who was that driver you told us about."

The logic of why he should tell her seemed lost to Johann as he looked quizzically at Astrid.

"After all like you said before, you only spoke to him at some friends of yours. As you've done it before, it shouldn't pose you problems to speak of him to other friends of yours. And as you said, we are friends Johann. So please do tell, who was that driver friend of yours?"

Comprehension slowly draw upon Johann's face as he realized that he was trapped. On his part Hiccup could only admire Astrid's ingenuity.

_Glad that she's on Night Fury's side._ But on the back of his mind a small voice quickly followed that last statement: _For now._

* * *

Snotlout, or his real name Sam Jorgenson, was having a good day. He went home early yesterday to catch the football game and arrived just in time to watch the victory of his team throughout a last minute epic comeback. After celebrating to himself, he went to bed drunk enough to have a pleasant memory of his night and yet not too drunk to suffer a major headache the next morning. Feeling sluggish upon waking up, he was back in shape with an extra hour of sleep. When he left, as he was leaving later than usual, he had the pleasant surprise to discover there was no traffic jam on his way to the Police Plaza. When he arrived to work he found a fresh pot of coffee ready for him. After exchanging a few jokes with some detectives and winked at the new girl in the detective squad, he went to his desk and saw that Fishleg had done his report for him as he had expected. Moreover he had no urgent business to deal with immediately as the hunt for Night Fury being halted by the chain of command so that they can revise their strategy to catch that damn vigilante. To top it all, Fishleg had been silent for the past hour and didn't annoyed him with any statistics on recent events or any of his so-called _"interesting"_ facts. To be honest he had rarely been so silent.

_He had never been this_ _silent._ Snotlout corrected for himself. _Like ever. Even in the interrogation practices that Astrid made us do he couldn't stop himself from blabbing._

Frowning, he turned to observe Fishlegs. It was more than obvious that something was wrong. He was glancing nervously around from time to time all the while staring at the entrance of the detective squad. Even someone as dense as Snotlout realized that Fishlegs wasn't in his usual state. His first reaction was to ignore Fishlegs. It was not the first time and it wouldn't be the last time that Fishlegs was acting weird and by experience he knew it was usually be for the best if he didn't involved himself with Fishlegs's weirdness.

But as much as he wanted to ignore Fishlegs it proved to more challenging that he expected. In a way Snotlout had been right: Fishlegs is never that silent. Even if he wasn't babbling it didn't stopped him from annoyingly loud. At first he was just slightly muttering in his breath but Snotlout could easily ignored that. After all he had years of practices of ignoring Fishlegs's voice. Then things began to escalate.

Nervously Fishlegs started chewing gums and tapping his fingers on his desk. After accidentally swallowing his gum and coughing for ten minutes when Snotlout "gently" asked him to stop tapping his fingers, he started muttering in his breath more and more loudly while pivoting on his chair. When Snotlout thought it couldn't get worse, Fishlegs started to click his pen.

"ENOUGH FISHLEGS! Spill it! What the f*ck are you so nervous about?! And will you stop all that noise! It's driving me crazy!"

Fishlegs looked at him completely bewildered. Then his eyes shied away from Snotlout's gaze and began to speak quickly as he does when he is nervous.

"Nothing. No-Nothing is wrong really. I-I'm not nervous about anything. Especially not Astrid. Not nervous at all. I really don't know what you're talking about."

Snotlout might not be the best detective nor the brightest light but there was no way he was buying that. But before he could push Fishlegs further as to why he was nervous about Astrid, his phone shortly rang twice, indicating that he received a text.

He quickly read it and his face wore a smug smile.

"Seems like she can't get enough of the Snotman."

"W-Who?"

Snotlout simply grinned at him before taking his coat.

"Well it's a good thing that you're not nervous about Astrid because she just asked us to meet her in front of a bar." Fishlegs visibly paled. "Well, what are you waiting for? Get your coat and let's go! I'm sure that Astrid is dying to see me again. She's just so in love with me."

Fishlegs cringed at it. Something was telling that this meeting wouldn't go as Snotlout expected it to go.

* * *

Again Snotlout had been right on one point -it's not something you say often- Astrid was dying to see him again but not for the reason he might have thought. As Snotlout arrived at the location that Astrid had text him, she gestured him to follow her on a side alley a bit further away. Snotlout walked to her while puffing his chest with all the height he could managed, sure to impress Astrid as usual. Fishlegs was slowly walking behind Snotlout. He had recognized the smile on Astrid's face and knew that it won't be pretty.

As soon as Snotlout passed the corner of the alley, his guts met with a vicious uppercut from Astrid. Before he could recover from it, she swept his legs under him, seized his arm and twisted it while putting her foot on the back of the now fallen Snotlout.

"Snotlout you brain-dead moron fish! I swear to Freya, I'll kill if you ever redo that to me!"

"OWW! What's the hell?! What did I do?"

She twisted a bit more his arm.

"What did you do?! How come I was never informed that the metal crates from the warehouse had been stolen?"

"What?! But who gives a damn about..."

She twisted even more, closing to the limit of how much it could bent.

"OWWW! OWW! STOP! Ok, ok! I'm sorry! I should have told you!"

"Fishlegs. What was my exact words when I tell you about this case?"

Fishlegs flinched a bit but quickly executed himself.

"You said: _This is my case and I would be the one that will catch that f*cker of Night Fury. If you ever encountered anything even remotely linked to Night Fury, I want to be informed immediately. Or I swear to God I'll make you regret it. Understood?_ I believe those were your exact words."

"Thank you Fishlegs. So explain it to me Snotlout. How come that when a major evidence from a case that directly incriminated Night Fury, a case that is the basis of why we are currently chasing him, could disappeared like that and you didn't judge it pertinent enough to inform me?!"

Snotlout gulped nervously. He knew that his next words could make him a dead man. Carefully, he began to think of how he could get out of this one.

"I just didn't think it would be... relevant to your case. As I know you're busy I didn't want to bother you with unimportant stuff babe."

Fishlegs and Hiccup cringed when they heard Snotlout called Astrid babe.

_He's so dead._

As if to prove them right, Astrid began to twist his wrist on top of twisting his arms all the while bending with her other hand his fingers in the other way. And, pressing furthermore her foot on Snotlout's back, she lowered herself so that she could whisper into Snotlout's ear.

"You're lucky that I need you today. I'll let you go with just this light punishment. But the next time that you call me babe again, it won't matter if I need you or not. I'll break your arm in half and punch your face in before calling someone else in for the job I'll need you to do. Is that understood?"

To stress her point she put more pressure on him and played a bit with the limit of how much his arm can be twisted. Snotlout did his best to refrain from screaming and fight the tears peeking to his eyes. He vigorously nodded that he understood. To Snotlout's relief, Astrid let him go without further punishment. Slowly he got up again and began to massage his arm.

"So what did you need us for?"

"In the bar I texted you there is a suspect that I want you to follow. I'm going to see Mildew and I want you to follow the guy when he'll be on the move. Don't let him see you and with some luck he will guide us to the one I'm looking for. As soon as he stopped somewhere, call me immediately and I'll join you. Is that clear?"

"Like crystal ba-Astrid." He quickly corrected himself. He really didn't want to test how badly she needed him for the job. Fishlegs for his part simply nod his agreement to the plan.

"Alright, let's go. And don't screw this up!"

* * *

Mildew, really named Mike Shepherd, was a snitch that Astrid knew that lived a few blocks away from the bar they came from. He was was spending most of his time lurking behind a window on the corner of an old house that was swearing with the residential buildings around it and was once a slightly less old house outside of Berk. But with the rapid expansion of Berk, his old family house was quickly surrounded by residential areas and not among the safest of them. Mildew was an eccentric that refuse to move and leave his house even if it was in desperate need of repairs. The roof was pierced by places and the windows were cracked and in serious need of cleaning. Obstinate like no other, he quickly became know as the crazy old man of the neighborhood. Long retired he was passing his days watching by his windows what was happening in the street.

His hobby interested the thugs of the neighborhood as his house was strategically placed to observe who was coming. Mildew reached a deal with them: he would warn them if some cops or rival gangs were coming and in exchanged they had to respect his property and deal with the people that annoyed him. And of course a reasonable amount of money. His help was precious around here because as most of cops were long term resident of Berk, Mildew knew nearly all of them. And he had an excellent memory of who should or shouldn't be here. This is why nearly every gang in the area that wanted to do deals in that part of the city payed Mildew to stand watch.

However Mildew didn't have anything against a little cash for the police as an informant. Especially if they were looking for someone that was acting a bit stingy and wasn't paying him enough money. Also he didn't hurt him to have the police owing him some favors.

Despise all those connections, that stop some new gangs to take a shot at him. Usually he managed to fend them off by calling upon those who owed him but one time he got really close to kick the bucket if it hadn't been for a rookie police officer named Astrid Hofferson. She arrested by herself five thugs that had push Mildew to hide himself in his basement with his pet sheep. They were about to prop open the door when Astrid had erupted in the room. She had heard noises outside and decided to check in. After several shots were exchanged, four thugs were incapacitated with at least a bullet in two limbs and the last one surrendered. Herself had been only slightly grazed by the altercation.

Ever since Mildew owed Astrid a life long debt of gratitude and agreed to be her occasional informant. She could ask him one piece of information every two weeks not more. Otherwise it would be bad for his business. Mildew had proved himself to be a precious sources of information for Astrid in her years as a police officer. The intel she got from him greatly helped her to prove herself be one the youngest one to be promoted detective. As she accumulated experience and contacts she needed less and less intel from Mildew but it still proved useful for her to have Mildew as an indic.

Today it would be a bit over two weeks since Astrid last consulted him, last time being when she went to ask him if he had any information about Night Fury. Unfortunately for her, as every other informants in Berk, he didn't had any for her.

But this time Astrid had a good feeling that it will go according to plan.

She was strolling confidently towards Mildew's house. He was nervously looking around to see if anyone had saw her coming. Astrid was famous in those parts of town and Mildew really didn't want people to think he was working with her.

Luckily for him, it was raining outside and everybody was keeping to themselves at home. As Astrid was walking into his house he groaned upon seeing Hiccup enter too.

"Who's the kid?"

"He's my new partner."

"I'm not talking if he's here."

"That's not the deal Mildew."

He merely grunted. He knew it wasn't but didn't like it either. Something about this kid was unsettling him.

It's true that Hiccup was no longer a kid but for someone like Mildew everyone was a kid. Actually Hiccup was surprised that someone as old as him be an informant. He had heard of Mildew before but he wasn't expecting him to look so old. He saw in records that he was 64 but to him he looked more like 80. He was sitting still in his old cushioned armchair, a blanket above his legs and a cellphone in his hand. He was wearing a comfy pajamas under a warm brown dressing gown that was at least a decade old. You could spot stains everywhere on his clothes and judging by the smell he didn't bath for a least a week.

Surprisingly the house wasn't that bad inside. You could spot that renovation had been made a bit everywhere in the room and that most of the stuff was recent. Only the kitchen looked as bad as the exterior suggested. Hiccup supposed he renovated the essential part of his house with the money he made for the local gangs.

Hiccup was leisurely observing the rest of the house while Astrid and Mildew were still looking at each other defiantly. Finally Mildew conceded this silent dual.

"Alright, alright! He can stay but he doesn't utter a word! Got it?"

"Agreed. It might even do me some good." Astrid answered with a small smirk, earning herself a dark look from Hiccup. But as agreed he didn't say a word.

"So what do you want to know? Night Fury again?" Mildew asked, totally ignoring Hiccup.

"No. I know you don't have a shred of information on him. At least not that I already know."

"Alright, so what is it?"

"I'm looking for someone. He's a specialized driver for local criminals. I heard that he recently joined a crew and I want to find him."

"Does this _specialized_ driver has a name?"

"Roscoe Hynes. He was a former lieutenant and pilot fighter."

Mildew began to stroke his untidy greasy beard while trying to remember who this person was.

"Yeah, I've heard of the fella. One of the best driver in town, he is said to be able to run every engine and drive about everything."

"So you know where he is."

"Sorry missy but he isn't living around here and I don't move much elsewhere. You might have a better luck with someone else. But if it can help he definitely doesn't live in this part of town or I would know it. I can assure you that."

Hiccup frowned at that but didn't say anything. After all he still wasn't allowed to speak and trust that Astrid had a plan.

"F*ck! I thought for sure that you'd know! That's one huge sh*t! What a waste, I should have ask you something else."

_Okay, maybe she didn't had a plan after all._

"I answered your question as per our deal so now get the hell out of here before you destroy all my hard work."

"Alright Mildew. Thanks anyway."

She was halfway to the door when Mildew called her back.

"Oh! By the way Astrid, you don't need to go see the local gangs right?"

"No, go ahead Mildew. You could told them that I was here for Dagur."

"The head of the Berserker? Nice pick."

Then as Mildew had no business left with her, Astrid headed to the door, Hiccup right behind her. As soon as they were out, Hiccup could no longer refrain his question.

"Tell them that you were there for Dagur?"

"Yes. It is likely that some people saw us entered and exited from Mildew's house. He'll have to explain why we went to saw us. As I don't need to go into the neighborhood he could tell to the others that I went to see him to ask about Dagur and warned them that I'm around."

Hiccup thought about what Astrid just said. It was quite clever actually. Mildew got an alibi for speaking to Astrid and Astrid could throw them off scent on who the police were really after. But it still left him with another big question. But it wasn't the time to ask it as they were being soaked by the rain. They quickly run for cover in the car parked at the corner.

As they enter the car, he pushed his wet hair from in front of his eyes and turned to ask Astrid.

"But why did you ask him about Roscoe Hynes? We already know where he is. Snotlout and Fishlegs are watching him."

Astrid faced him with a winning smile and Hiccup took a moment to absorb what he was seeing. Her hair were dripping from her disheveled braid, her lips were glistening bright red in contrast to the cold white skin of her makeup free face and her eyes were hiding some black bags with some stray hairs forming an impromptu fringe. Astrid didn't pay much to her appearance this morning nor slept much either. She was way too excited yesterday night of finally having a concrete lead in her case. Hiccup didn't think he ever saw Astrid's appearance so undone,. So negligee. So raw. So perfect. In this moment, this perfect moment, every feeling he ever harbor about Astrid surged into him like a raging wave. The rawness of her appearance, the winning smile and the gleam of those stupidly perfect sapphire eyes, that was everything that makes Astrid... well Astrid. And in this moment he remembered why he was in love with her in the first place, what draw him to her. And in this moment never her luscious looked more kissable...

Then the moment passed when Astrid answered his question.

"So you know how Mildew owes me his life and made a deal to be my informant in gratitude?"

Hiccup merely nodded as he could speak for the moment. He was trying hard to hide his embarrassment. He didn't expect to experience such a surge of emotions, not at such a random moment. It wasn't even a romantic moment or anything. There was nothing particular except she just seemed so cute, so desirable, so... He scolded himself mentally before he went sidetracks again and tried to focus on what she was saying.

_Listen to her! Stop being so rude! She's answering your question and you ain't listening to what she's saying for those __magnificent lips that... STOP IT!_

Astrid frowned at the lost look on Hiccup's eyes but decided to disregard it.

"Well, turns out that Mildew's gratitude doesn't last very long. Not a year after I stroke the deal with him he began to lie to me and snitch on me to other criminals."

Now she finally got the full attention of Hiccup.

"Then why do you still ask him for information? And why did you ask him about Roscoe Hynes?"

"Milch is a snitch so I knew he would sell me out someday. He's still saying me the truth for those who don't pay him. But when I ask him about the ones that pay protection to him, he would lie to me and inform them that I'm looking for them."

"But then why ask him about Roscoe Hynes? We saw him at a bar not 4 blocks from here and Mildew said that he didn't live here. He must have paid protection to Mildew."

Her smile simply grew larger if possible.

"Exactly."

She looked at Hiccup's confused face and nearly burst out laughing. He was just too cute all confused like that. She barely contained herself and start answering a quickly reddening Hiccup. Even if he didn't really understand how Astrid was thinking he knew her enough to she was making fun of him.

"I want him to inform Roscoe. He'll probably tell him that I'm looking for him and that I don't know where he is but that can quickly change. Being the newcomer of the crew he might have limited ways to contact the rest of the crew and with some luck he might lead us to the crew's hideout. But that's if Snotlout and Fishlegs can do a decent job."

She said that last sentence while grinding her teeth. Even if she personally trained them she knows that Snotlout have a tendency to screw important things that needed more subtil ways than charging head-on.

As Hiccup was about to say something, her phone began to vibrate. She quickly read the text that Fishlegs just send her.

"_S.H on the move. Snotlout and I are following."_

"Good. Now we wait."

* * *

**Review what you thought of this chapter ^^ And now the next chapter.**


	12. Chapter 12 - Cadmus Labs

**Hiccup in a Flash, chap 12**

**I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or its characters, just merely borrowing the characters for an adventure of my own.**

**Then without further ado, please enjoy yourself with this fanfic ^^**

**\- Chapter 12: Cadmus Labs**

* * *

Hiccup was in front of what he supposed to be the current hideout of Eret and his crew : Cadmus Labs. It was the perfect hiding place. A bit isolated from Berk but well connected to the city and the building was currently vacant for the past two weeks as it had to put to the norms of the current asbestos and lead standard. It wouldn't be strange to see large constructions trucks coming in and out it and they could mask their face with dust mask without raising any suspicion.

Hiccup had to say that he was impressed. He always thought that Berk's detective were all a bunch of morons and didn't expecting Astrid to be able to use such cunning methods. But more than Astrid's wits, what surprised him the most was that his dumb cousin had been able to follow Roscoe Hynes without being spotted once. If Snotlout were to do more things like that in the future he might even actually believe that his cousin was competent.

_Who knew that I'd think that one day._

Hiccup was broke out of his reverie by the voice of Astrid.

"Alright. So that's where they had been hiding."

"We followed him here anyway as you instructed. Roscoe entered half an hour ago and still hasn't left yet. What do you want to do?"

Hiccup didn't know that Snotlout could utter a sentence to Astrid without trying to hit on her. And the way he said it was almost respectful, professional. Apparently he did learn his lesson earlier and was still rubbing his arm. _Ain't this day full of surprises?_

Meanwhile Astrid was thinking about her next move. She had different possibilities on how to go on from there but she really wanted to know what she was getting into before bringing any backup.

"Ok. Follow me, we're going to enter the lab. I want to know what's going on in there and how many people are in Eret's crew. We stay as discreet as possible and only observe. This is not a bust, understood?" Hiccup and Fishlegs silently nodded. "Am I clear Snotlout?"

Snotlout quickly answered, not wanting another beating.

"Sure bab... Astrid! Observe only! Discretion absolute."

She was half a mind to leave Snotlout behind but if things were to turn bad it would be useful to have him with them.

"Don't make me regret taking you with me Snotlout."

As she was about to head to the side entrance of the lab she spotted earlier, Hiccup grabbed her arm.

"Can I talk to you a second?"

Astrid frowned at that. They already decided of a plan, what Hiccup could possibly add to that? This kind of thing was her territory and wasn't about to have her decision contested by Hiccup. But Hiccup had proved himself quite competent last time and earned the right to be listen.

"Alright. What do you want?"

"Do you mind if we're doing this somewhere more private?"

Her frown deepened at that.

_What do he want with me? Now is not the time for mysteries. _Then she saw the face that Snotlout was making as his cousin asked to have a private moment with Astrid. Something that she always made very clear she would first be found dead before agreeing to go anywhere private with him. With a small smirk she agreed.

They simply walked away from the lab a bit, just far enough to be out of hearing reach.

"So now fess up. What do you want?"

"We have no idea what's in this lab and how many people are there. It might be extremely dangerous to go inside like that without a plan. I understand that you don't want to bring the big guns right away, but you can call your other backup. He'll be extremely useful, especially if it is for a discreet mission."

"I can't call him here."

"Why not? He gave you his number."

"I can't call Night Fury here. Not with Fishlegs and Snotlout."

Hiccup knew that she was right but something in this lab was giving an eerie feeling. Like a a slight tingle under his skin that was making uneasy. He tried to find a way to dissuade her from going in without backup but he couldn't find any valid arguments. Astrid saw the conflict on Hiccup's face but misinterpret it for fear.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine. I done that numerous time before. We'll just had a quick peek to assess the situation and we'll go back. There's nothing to fear really."

Hiccup knew what she was trying to do but couldn't shake off his uneasy feeling. But looking at Astrid's eyes he knew he had lost any chance to convince her otherwise. With a small smile Hiccup conceded his defeat.

"Alright, let's get it over with."

On those words they went back with the others and began to make their way to the side entrance that Fishlegs and Snotlout saw Roscoe Hynes entered by. It was the entrance reserved to delivery. Park in front of it where a large truck and several others cars. You could spot traces on the ground of heavy objects being transported in and out of the lab. Despise the signs warning the people to stay clear of the labs for dangerous chemicals were being used for decontamination, no actual guards was warding people off.

Slowly the four of them made their way into the lab. They had no idea where Roscoe could have went but they assumed that they were most likely to find him at the end of the mud tracks left by lifters that they could see on the ground. All those tracks were leading in one direction and they followed it as silently as possible.

The lab itself was empty and gave off some spooky vibes. Lights were off but the tracks were following a long curved corridor that seemed to circle the lab with large windows showing the exterior. The outside lights was pouring by the partially closed stores. When they reached the other side of the lab by Hiccup's estimation, he realized that the corridor had became a gentle slope into the ground. As they reached below the ground floor they met the end of the corridor where a large lift for equipment.

"What do we do now?"

Astrid took a moment to think about it. The tracks stopped at the lift and they had no idea at which floor they went. And it would be difficult for them to stay discreet if they took the elevator.

"We take the stairs. We stop at each floors and look if the tracks start again if front of the elevator. Fishlegs how many floor did you saw indicated at the sign at the entrance?"

"We're at the first floor. They are four more floors up and three floors down. Do we go up or do we go down?"

"We go down."

Everyone looked at Hiccup surprised. He said it without the shadow of a doubt, completely certain that was where they should be going. He couldn't explain it but the tingling he was feeling earlier was getting stronger the more they went down. He could sense something that was familiar but yet couldn't put his finger on it on what it was. But he knew for certain that he would found it on the lower floors.

That's when he realized that the others were looking at him, awaiting an explanation at how he could possibly know where to go. He nervously rubbed his neck while trying to make up an explanation.

"The heavy machinery of a lab are often underground and it is more likely the target of Eret?"

He tried to make it sounds more like an affirmation than a question but failed. Nonetheless Astrid didn't have time to ponder whether Hiccup was lying or not and his explanation was good enough for her.

Carefully they went down the next floor by the stairs they saw further back in the corridor, where the floor had began to slit. Once they arrive at the next floor, they made their way through the corridors in the direction in which they presume the lift where located. This floor mostly consisted of offices. Most of them were individual and a few rare space where in open space. Once again this floor was completely empty and there was no sign of any treatment against asbestos and lead. When they reach the lift they saw that the floor had no mud on it, just dust. Judging it must have been the wrong floor they went back to the stairs and headed to the next floor.

This floor consisted in numerous small labs completely clean. All the chemical, materials, electronics and other equipment had been untouched. In some rooms you could also see signs indicating that there were the server rooms. All those rooms seemed completely closed and no burglar crew tried to enter in it. There again the space in front the lift seemed clean.

Astrid was beginning to think that maybe Hiccup got it wrong but the tense expression on his face told her otherwise.

Finally they reached the last floor. Before they left the staircase Hiccup knew they had arrived at the right floor.

"It's here."

Nobody asked him how he knew that but once out of the staircase they knew that this floor was different. The ceiling height of this floor was nearly twice as much as the previous floors. Like in the first floor this floor had a corridor that seemed to circle the whole floor. Large pipes were attached to the walls and there was no entrance to offices or labs in sight. Some time to time you could spot the door for small electrical maintenance space but that was about it. Another large difference with the other floors was that this floor was well lighted. The previous floor underground only had a dim light to allow people to circulate in it without bumping into anything but you couldn't really saw clearly or work in this light. It was likely set up like that so that security agents could observe something on the camera and patrol without having to light the full floor.

But this floor had the light on full power, showing that people was currently working here. Astrid didn't missed that and tension went up a notch. They would have to be especially careful in this floor.

_Hiccup's right, it's here._

She looked behind her and saw that the others also understood that this floor was different. Slowly and as silently as possible they advanced in the corridor in direction of the lift. Once they reached it they knew they were definitely closing in. Large mud traces were going in and out from the lift to the entrance in front of it. It was the entrance to another large corridor that was going side way from the one they were currently following. It was going straight into the heart of the lab.

Carefully they began to proceed into that corridor, following the tracks left on the ground. On each side of the corridor where small offices but they didn't stopped to look inside. Astrid was getting close and she knew it, there was no time to lose. Who knew how long Eret and his crew would stay here?

As she was formulating that thought; they arrived at the end of the corridor. Another one was crossing perpendicularly it and you could spot others doors to more offices left and right. According to her estimations they should be near the center of the lab. In front of them was a large staircase with ramps on each sides for lifters. The tracks were going down that way too. It seemed to go quite deep into the ground. On the ceiling the large pipes they saw in the corridor seemed to be also going down.

_Down we go. Gotta be __careful. There is a fair chance that those stairs are guarded._

She exchanged a quick look with Fishlegs and Snotlout. Each of them answered by a small node and bringing out their gun. Astrid slowly took out her weapon too and began to climb down the stairs.

Surprisingly there were no guard or anyone watching the stairs. In fact it was strangely empty and silent. Astrid frowned at that and look around to decide where to go next. The stairs leaded to a large round room with 2 larges doors. One where on the left and the other where on the right. The one on the left had a small sign saying _"Main Lab A" _while the other was saying _"Main Lab B"_. The tracks were leading to the entrance of Main Lab A and despite the door being closed you could see light filtering from beneath it. The entrance to Main Lab B was also close but you could see that the lights in this lab were close.

In all logic they headed their way to the entrance of Main Lab A and Astrid slowly tried the handle. Even if the door was closed, it wasn't locked. She grabbed the handle and looked at the others on the other side of the door to see if they were ready. Once again Fishlegs and Snotlout silently nodded at Astrid's silent question but Hiccup was nowhere to be seen. She looked around and saw him at the entrance of Main Lab B. He was trying the handle but this door was locked. As Astrid was moving to him to strangle him, she saw him took something from his jacket and after a second or two of working the door lock he tried the handle and this time it opened.

_Since when does Hiccup know how to pick locks?_

But before she could reached him he was entering Main Lab B.

_I'm gonna kill him. Going ahead by himself just like last time at the warehouse._

Knowing there would be problems she quickly gestured Snotlout and Fishlegs to follow her. She then entered Main Lab B after Hiccup.

The lab was huge. Twice the ceiling height than the rest of the floor, the opposite wall was nearly too far to be seen. From the shape of the room Astrid guessed that it was occupying a fourth of the entire floor. She was guessing that the other main lab was the same and could pretty much imagine the structure of this floor. Half of it was occupied by offices and maintenance rooms and the other half was shared between the two main labs. She could see some large scientific equipment and lifters a bit everywhere around her.

_I suppose that's where they do the largest experiments. But where is Hiccup?_

The lab was quite dark, the only source of light seemed to be a purple light hidden behind some large panels placed in the middle of the lab. The glow emanating from it seemed familiar but she had no idea why. Then she spotted Hiccup had moved behind those panels and was observing the light behind it. Muttering to herself in which gruesome she was going to murder him, she made her way to him. But as she came closer something caught her eye and she stopped dead in her tracks.

_Where have I seen those?_ Realization suddenly struck her as she observed the panel blocking the light.

"Ain't those..." Fishlegs didn't finish his sentence as Astrid glared at him. Fishlegs and Snotlout had joined her and was also observing the panels. Snotlout didn't seem to recognized it but Fishlegs and Astrid remembered it perfectly, Fishlegs being a little bit too loud in his surprise. They were supposed to be stealthy and Fishlegs had a tendency to speak a little too loud. But she understood his surprise.

What was blocking the light wasn't panels but the larges metals boxes that were stolen a few days ago. They were neatly align next to each other in the middle of the lab and you could see all kinds of wires attached to them. Curious to what it was attached to she moved to join Hiccup to observe what was behind it and what was this purple light. But she barely made two steps when suddenly the whole room was illuminated as the lights were switched on.

"Is that who I think it is?"

Astrid had already turned around and was pointing her gun to seven armed men blocking the entrance. A eight one, his guns still to his hips, moved from the back where he switch on the lights to the front to face Astrid. He was the one that had just talk and she recognized him as Eret Twice. He looked taller and more muscular than the picture in his file but it was definitely the same face. There was no mistaking this tattoo on his chin. He also looked a lot more handsome in person. He was irradiating the aura of someone confident in himself and sure on having the upper hand. Astrid had to admit that a quick assessment of the situation didn't gave him wrong. But she felt a tinge of pride when she saw that Fishlegs and Snotlout had turned to face them weapons in hands and managed to stay calm and composed.

_Ok, maybe Fishlegs isn't that calm and Snotlout isn't that composed but they're doing good._

"Soil my britches. That is Astrid Hofferson."

Astrid simply glared at him.

"Look like our luck had a turn for the better, lads. We just managed to catch for ourselves the most famous and best detective of the BCPD. That's ought to make the Bloody Fist happy."

The large hand movement he made to speak to his men showed that Eret was a fighter and was packing some serious muscle. Seemed like even if he wasn't armed he would be serious opponent. Seeing that, despite the tension, Astrid couldn't help but have a thought for Ruffnut.

_I'm glad she's not here, she would have went mental for that guy. I'm pretty sure that she'd drop her weapon to go flirt with him._

Thinking about Ruffnut helped her clearing her mind and she started to enumerate her options. They were outnumbered and outgunned. The only exit was blocked and they were completely exposed in the middle of the lab. They could either try to force their way out or try to find cover behind them but that would mean turning their back to them. Neither option was interesting.

"We're so screwed." It was Snotlout who just said that but it perfectly resumed Astrid's thoughts.

"Why don't they attack?" Fishlegs tried his best to hide his nervousness in his voice.

It was an excellent question. They were watching each other but neither side had made a move. They clearly had the upper hand but didn't attack yet. Then watching Eret's cocky grin, realization draw upon Astrid.

_They don't need to attack. They just had to wait for us to realize the situation we're in and __surrounded to_ _them._ Astrid hated to admit but they were right. Their only option was a suicide attack, be shot in the back or surrender and pray for mercy.

_I guessed we'd have better luck forcing our way out. If they expect me to surrender or be shot in the back they're in for a surprise._

"I may have a suggestion."

Astrid nearly jump out of her skin in surprise. She didn't notice Hiccup moving closer to them. Nonetheless she did her best to contain herself and to keep watching Eret and it's crew's every move. They were still enjoying watching them trapped as a hunter enjoyed watching his trap works perfectly.

"What's your plan Hiccup?"

"You might not like it."

Astrid groaned. She didn't to turn around to imagine Hiccup's face when he said that. Rubbing his neck and his head slightly while looking straight to her which that dangerous spark that was screaming danger. She knew she'll regret it but asked anyway.

"Alright, what is it?"

Hiccup started explaining. He was right: she didn't like it.

Astrid said nothing for a long time. Fishlegs and Snotlout were looking at her, clearly not agreeing to that plan.

With a long sigh, Astrid slowly put back her gun in her holster and raised her hands above her head.

* * *

**Sorry for this short chapter but I ran out of time before the deadline. Either I did a short chapter or I try to rush it but risked to mess it up. I know what is happening next but I prefer to take my time to try to make it cool. No promises but I'll try my best.**

**Moreover I thought that he seemed a good time to stop this chapter ^^ (Yes I do like cliffhangers) And it gave you time to guess what will happen ^^**

**If you spotted any mistakes in my writings (and I'm pretty sure there are) please indicated to me in the link for Google Docs that I put in my profile page. As the previous link kind of mess up I changed it and I know propose you in the new link the possibility to correct any chapter that you've found mistakes. But please write it in different color so that I know what change should I made.**

**Thank you all for reading and please review, it always really warms my hearts (and if you have nice ideas I'm not against it ^^)**


	13. Chapter 13 - Bold and crazy

**Hiccup in a Flash, chap 13**

**I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or its characters, just merely borrowing the character for an adventure of my own.**

**So as a compensation for the last chapter, this one is twice as long, the longest I ever wrote so far ^^ I really got inspired for this one and I hope you'll like it as much as I liked writing it.**

**Your reviews for the last chapter fired me up and I wrote this chapter a lot sooner that I thought I would, like two weeks sooner ^^**

**But enough about me and let's see how Hiccup manage against all odds to get out of this pickle. ^^**

**Please enjoy yourself with this fanfic ^^**

**\- Chapter 13: Bold and crazy**

* * *

Hiccup felt the tingling sensation becoming ever more pressing every time they got closer to the main labs. When they went down the stairs on the last floor, he felt that sensation stronger than ever coming from the Main Lab B. Even if the tracks were leading to the Main Lab A he knew that he needed to go to Main Lab B. He knew that it was the place where his questions would be answered.

Hiccup couldn't really explain that sensation even if he wanted to. It was a call to something extremely powerful and frightening and at the same time extremely familiar too. A thousand words won't be enough to describe it but he only understood one thing. He had to see for himself what it was. It was almost in a secondary state that his steps lead him to the entrance of Main Lab B. As he tried to open the door he noticed that it was locked.

Such a pesky detail wasn't going to stop him he had long since learned from his time as Night Fury how to pick a lock. He quickly opened it with the tools that he always kept on him. He opened the door without any trouble this time and was vaguely aware that Astrid was making her way toward him. Barely registering that she was royally pissed off he started walking into Main Lab B.

The lights were off and you could barely see a thing in the lab but that didn't really bother Hiccup. His powers came with the added bonus of being able to see in near darkness, just like cats. He wasn't exactly seeing in the dark but his eyes adapted lot more faster to darkness and were able to see a lot more when the lights were reduced. He couldn't see in complete darkness but he was able to see a lot more that the average Joe within the dim lights of the night.

He immediately noticed the indecently large size of the lab but it wasn't what kept most of his attention. It wasn't even the expensive pieces of equipment that he would kill for to have with him in the BCPD's lab. It was that strange and yet familiar light that was emitting from what he quickly made out to be the metal boxes they were looking for. Entirely focused on this purple light, his brain barely noticing that he was moving, he made his way to see what was hiding behind those boxes, what was linked to all those cables fixed to those boxes. It was as if he was answering a silent call.

As he was finally seeing what have been calling him from the very moment he entered the lab, he understood. He understood why the Helheim's Gate were after him, why they ambushed him, why they took those boxes and why he couldn't let them be. He was so taken away by what he was seeing that he didn't the gasp of Astrid or the exclamation of Fishlegs as they recognized the boxes.

The only thing that brought him to the real world was when the lights were suddenly brought back to life and an arrogant voice came near the entrance.

"Is that who I think it is?"

Hiccup turned around to face those who had interrupted him in his contemplation of the consequence of his recent discovery. They were eight men and he immediately recognized two of them. The one on the far right was Roscoe Hynes that they've been looking for and the one that was the one they've been looking for: Eret Twice.

"Soil my britches. That is Astrid Hofferson."

Hiccup looked around him for the first time since he entered the Main Lab B. Astrid and the others had followed him into the lab and where a few yards away from him and were currently facing the erupting crew, weapons in hands. Hiccup suddenly realized that he had still didn't bring out his own weapon. Blushing he was about to take his out when he took notice of the situation.

_If Eret and his crew were about to shoot us they would have already done so. There is no way that they would have gave up the effect of surprise just for doing some small talks. Only villains in movies do that. So what are they waiting for?_

"Look like our luck had a turn for the better, lads. We just managed to catch for ourselves the most famous and best detective of the BCPD. That's ought to make the Bloody Fist happy."

That's when Hiccup understood in what situation they were in. Their only escape were blocked and there was nothing for Astrid and the others to take cover behind. Their possibilities were reduced to three scenarios. Scenario A they try to force their way out but they're outnumbered and outgunned. Scenario B they try to run for cover behind the metal boxes but their back would be an easy target. Scenario C they surrendered.

_Seems like Eret is expecting scenario C but if he knew even a little bit Astrid he'd know it wasn't an option. A normal person would surrender but not Astrid. Way too stubborn for that._

Suddenly an idea clicked in his mind. Quickly he began to elaborate on it and something close to a plan emerged from it. It was bold and risky and could expose him to both Astrid and Eret but it was their best chance to get all out of here alive.

_Time for scenario D._

* * *

Astrid was calming listening to Hiccup's plan and was not liking it one bit.

"And why are you be the one that should discuss with Eret and his goons? Considering your skills I should clearly be the one to do it."

Astrid had spoke barely above a whisper but they all heard her argument. Indeed considering the crucial part of the plan she should be the one to engage the discussion with Eret. However Hiccup knew that his plan would only work if it was him but could explain why without exposing himself as Night Fury. Carefully he tried to chose his words to convince Astrid otherwise.

"We need a maximum surprise effect for it to work and I'm the only one that they won't expect something that crazy from. I'm clearly not a threat to them and I'm the only one that didn't bring out his gun. They might not even know that I'm armed."

Astrid had to agree to that but still didn't like to let her life rest in the hands of Hiccup.

"Moreover I'm pretty good at distracting people."

She couldn't turn over as she wasn't leaving Eret and his crew out of her sight but she could perfectly imagine the sheepish grin on Hiccup's face as he said that. Hiccup was right, once again. He was the best choice she hated that.

She threw a last glance around her, hoping that the situation had somehow magically changed and there was some cover she didn't notice before right beside her or that a secret exit had appeared. As no such thing had happened she had no other choice but to go along with Hiccup's plan. Slowly she put her gun back into her holster, raised her hands in the air in surrender and dropped to her knees. Fishlegs and Snotlout watched her worriedly but said nothing and followed her lead.

Now only Hiccup was still standing. Eret and his groups still haven't made any move and were still on their guards. However they seemed slightly less tense now that Astrid and the others were on their knees. It didn't went unnoticed by Hiccup that slowly moved in front of their small group, hands held in front of him.

"Look we don't want any trouble."

Eret and his crew tighten a bit their grip to their weapons but didn't seemed overly concerned by Hiccup's sudden movement. Anyway, not wanting to tempt the devil, Hiccup promptly stopped moving and held his hands higher, clearly showing that he was unarmed.

"It's a bit late for that don't you think? You should have thought of that before entering here and trying to steal our prize here."

Hiccup innerly cringed at the prize he was referring to. Knowing what it was he had more than a mind to protest that it was rightfully his. But he suppressed that thought, he needed to buy time.

_Come on Hiccup, you need to buy one minute. No, thirty seconds._

"What are you talking about? What prize?"

"Don't play dumb with me, I know that you're here with your thieving friend to steal those metal boxes."

"Well it's not so much that taking back the property of the BCPD. You do know that those are evidences right?"

Eret snorted at him.

"Yeah and I suppose I just ought to let you take it. And how do you suppose I explain that to the Bloody Fist?"

Astrid suddenly spoke.

"The Bloody Fist? Is it part of Helheim's Gate?"

"Yeah they belong to Helheim's Gate but that they're none of your concern seeing as you're... Eh! Why have you all closed your eyes?"

_Sh*t! Jig is up. It's now or never._

Hiccup would prefer to have bought more time and learn more about the Bloody Fist but now wasn't the time. He moved into action. Faster that what Eret and his crew believed it was possible Hiccup had take out his gun and fired at them. They quickly broke apart to take cover and for a moment no one was watching Hiccup. And a moment was all he needed.

Hiccup's plan was simple. While he was gaining some time and made Eret and his crew drop their guard, the others would keep their eyes closed to get them used to darkness. Then when Hiccup was sure to catch them off-guard he would fire at them and aimed for the light switch to turn off the lights. When Eret and his men were momentarily blinded by the sudden obscurity, they'll all run to cover behind the metal boxes right behind them. Then they'd have to improvise.

But this whole plan was based on the capacity of Hiccup to distract and accurately shot the light switch. It's true that for accuracy it would have been better to have Astrid to do it but Hiccup knew that from this distance, even if they hit the light switch, the bullet would more than likely won't go deep enough into the wall and kept the electric circuit closed. The lights would stay on and it'll only resulted on the switch being busted rendering the lights impossible to turn off. But he had another idea for that.

* * *

Truth be told Astrid didn't really expect Hiccup to be able to bust the light off. She agreed to his plan because he was the one that could create the biggest surprise effect before he starts a cover fire. He told her that he could get the light off but she only gave him three shots to try before she moved out and risk reaching the metal boxes by herself.

She was carefully listening to the exchange between Hiccup and Eret and as soon as Eret started answering she closed her eyes. Now she just had to wait for Hiccup to stall long enough for their eyes to get used to the darkness before he started aiming at the light switch.

"Yeah and I suppose I just ought to let you take it. And how do you suppose I explain that to the Bloody Fist?"

At the word Bloody Fist her heart started hammering and she couldn't contain her curiosity as she asked:

"The Bloody Fist? Is it part of Helheim's Gate?"

The answer came soon after that.

"Yeah they belong to Helheim's Gate but that they're none of your concern seeing as you're... Eh! Why have you all closed your eyes?"

_F*ck! Well played Astrid! You just screwed your only plan._

She had to fight every instincts telling her to start running immediately and waited for the cue from Hiccup. She didn't have to wait long as two shots were immediately fired right in front of her. She could hear the scream of surprise of Eret's men and waited for the last chance for Hiccup to switch off the lights as she could still feel that the lights were still on. But the third shot didn't came from in front of her but on Eret and his men's side.

_Damnit! They're already shooting back!_

She was about to start running, not waiting for Hiccup last shot, when the light were off. She immediately snapped her eyes open and yelled:

"NOW!"

She heard Fishlegs and Snotlout immediately moving into action as she was running towards the only source of light left in the lab: the mysterious purple light hidden behind the metal boxes. Eret was yelling at his men to turn the lights back on while the others were shooting blindly. Astrid could hear objects breaking all over the lab as they were missing but some bullets were also flying a bit too close to her for her comfort.

When she finally reached the side of the metal boxes for what seemed to have been the longest 10 yards she ever ran she ducked for cover behind the metal boxes. She took out her gun and watch to her right to see if Fishlegs and Snotlout had made it. After two long seconds she saw a slightly out of breath Fishlegs and a frightened Snotlout emerged at the other end of the row of boxes. They both seemed safe and sound. That's when realization hit her in the face. In her haste she forgot that Hiccup didn't have time to adapt his eyes into the dark and that he was the one with a metal leg.

_How could I forgot that? How could I agree to that damn plan! It's more than likely that he's still out there, completely exposed. _

Swearing under her breath she took out her gun and prepared herself to go back to drag Hiccup's ass to safety. But as she was about to charge she nearly stumbled upon the one that she was about to save. Hiccup had been right behind her the whole time.

"How did you..."

"Now is not the time for question Astrid. We still need to get out of here."

Astrid silently nodded but didn't drop it. He would have to answer a few questions afterwards. But for now she'd have to focus if she wanted for it to have an afterwards.

"STOP! STOP SHOUTING!"

Eret's order had resound above the gunshots and quickly complete silence fell over Main Lab B.

"I have to admit I'm impressed! That was some ballsy move right there. I didn't expect that from the lab rat."

Eret paused for theatricality and Astrid that now was time for the "but".

"But it changed nothing at the situation. You're still trapped and you can't hold in there forever. Why not gently surrender and avoid all of us some trouble."

Astrid hated to admit but he was right. They may have gotten a stronger position but their situation didn't improve in the least.

"You know what? I'll be nice and leave you until I count to ten for you to reach a decision. One!"

She frantically looked around her for anything that might help. That's when her eyes finally noticed what was that purple light. All the metal boxes were connected to a large machine a few steps away from where was connected through complicated looking gizmo a small tube of a luminous purple liquid. This liquid was of a mysterious and yet familiar color. It was slightly moving around as if alive and you could see some sparks going in and out of it at a maddening speed. Astrid couldn't help but contemplate that strange liquid despite her dire situation. There was something else emitting from it, an aura of strength and irresistible attraction and for some reason the image of Night Fury kept popping into her mind. Without really realizing it she began to try and reach for it when Fishlegs's distressed voice brought her back to reality.

"Astrid! What are we doing?! Please we need you! Time's almost up!"

As if hearing him, Eret continued his ever more pressing countdown.

"Seven!"

She couldn't believe that she spaced out in such situation. Their lives was literally depending of her next decision and here she was contemplating some random lab product.

_Get a grip Astrid! Evaluate the situation and make a sharp decision as you always do. _

A quick look around show her the good and bad news of their position. The good news was that the metal boxes didn't have any gap between them so they won't have to fear stray bullet and only needed to guard the two extremities of their defense line. The bad news was that it was the only good news. Apart for an easier defensive position they didn't have any other improvement of their situation. They were isolated in the middle of the lab with still no exit in sight, they were limited in number and bullets and won't be able to hold for more than twenty minutes before they ran out of bullet.

"Eight!"

There was no time to waste, she had to reach a decision.

"I've got a plan."

She turned over and so that Hiccup was currently tinkling with the machinery that was holding the tube she just contemplated.

"Buy me some time. Hold on for at least five minutes and we may get out of here alive."

"Why should we listen to you?! You're the one that put us in that mess!" Snotlout wasn't about to take orders from his nerd of a cousin. Even if he sounded a lot more impressive than usual.

"I don't have time for that Snotlout. Just do as I say."

"Like hell I-"

"Nine!"

Astrid judged it was no time for family dispute.

"Just do it. Snotlout, Fishlegs. You cover the left side, I'll cover the right side."

Fishlegs promptly executed himself, glad to know there was a plan. Snotlout reluctantly took his position on the left side. He wasn't stupid to protest in this situation. Or piss off Astrid.

As Astrid was heading off to her own position Hiccup called after her.

"Astrid! Call for backup."

"I already thought of it but my phone doesn't have any network down here."

"Ten!"

Hiccup's voice become ever more urgent as he knew he didn't have long before all hell break loose.

"Use your other phone!"

"Seems like you want to it the hard way. Fine by me."

"What other phone?"

"Take them out, lads!"

"The burner!"

Astrid almost didn't hear him as multiple shots were fired towards them. Snotlout and Fishlegs were already firing back. Then she realized what he meant. Quickly she took out of her jacket the burner that Night Fury gave her. He told her that if she lost the connection on her phone, she should still have access to his network in Berk.

_That didn't mean that it'll work everywhere in Berk right? _

But she looked at the phone she saw that she had a full connection to the network.

_No way! _

Wasting no time she called the BCPD for backup. She had to yell above the firing shots to be able to communicate her position but strangely enough she didn't need to stress how urgent it was. Maybe the sounds of all the gunshots helped. She then dialed Night Fury number but immediately end up on the message recorder. She just yelled Cadmus Labs and hanged up. Some men of Eret's crew were approaching and she didn't have time to try and call him again.

She had to admit that Eret and his men were organized. They immediately understood that there was no point in just charging blindly. They knew that they had way more ammunition than them and were cautiously advancing from cover to cover on the side of the lab forcing Astrid and the others to waste their bullets to prevent them from surrounding them. But they won't be able to keep them in check on both front for long and at this rate she doubted than they'd be able to last 10 minutes.

She'd called for backup a few minutes ago already but she doubted that they'll be there before another 20 minutes, Cadmus Labs being fairly isolated from the center of Berk.

One of the men tried to pass by her but only earned a bullet in the leg. Another went to help him but as Astrid tried to shot him she realized that her gun was empty. She dropped her empty magazine and darkly noticed as she put a new one that it was her last one. She checked upon Snotlout and Fishlegs and realized that only Fishlegs was still firing, Snotlout having used all his bullets.

_Forget 10 minutes! We won't even last 5._

She steeled her resolve and prepare herself for the worst. One thing was certain, she won't go down without a fight.

"Move over."

Astrid barely stopped herself to shoot at him before she realized it was Hiccup that was standing right behind her. With a silent nod she let him take his place and noticed that he was holding the small tube that was radiating that strange purple light. He looked at her with a small smile that barely hide his nervousness. He took a short breath and stretched his arm holding the tube beyond the protection of the metal boxes for Eret and his men to see. Immediately orders were shouted.

"STOP! STOP IMMEDIATELY! STOP FIRING!"

Hiccup's smile transformed in a genuine grin as everybody stop shooting. Soon only the heavy breathing of Fishlegs could be heard. Hiccup came out from behind the metal box to face Eret and his men.

_Now the time of truth. Go big or go home._

"Hand it over, NOW!"

Eret had nearly bark the order, a hint of urgency in his voice. Hiccup simply calmly looked at him and quirked an eyebrow.

"And if I were to say no?"

"You have no idea what you are messing with! Just hand it over!"

"I've a pretty good idea of what I messing with, thank you. But do you?"

Astrid nearly rolled her eyes at Hiccup's cocky tone. She knew that someone will soon be really pissed off and considering their situation it might not be the best idea. But despite everything she couldn't help but really look forward to someone driven mad by Hiccup that wasn't her.

"Of course I do! Now, hand it over or I swear that none of you'll get out of here alive."

"Yeah because you were totally about to let us tranquilly go our own way."

Sarcasms were as always his weapon of choice.

"Don't you think that I could just take it from your cold dead fingers?"

"And you're wasting your time discussing with me because...?"

Even from where she was standing Astrid could hear veins dangerous popping on Eret's head.

_He really know how to make you feel stupid. _

Looking to her left she saw the bemused look on both Fishlegs and Snotlout's face. They had no idea what was going on or why Hiccup left safety for the express purpose of pissing off their opponents but they weren't about to complain about the sudden break to catch up their breath.

Eret was currently fighting really hard to fight not to yell. Trying to calm himself, he slowly answered.

"Maybe I was just being polite. But you're right. I don't need to discuss with you. I'll just take it after putting a bullet in each of your heads."

"Yeah! You're absolutely right. Do that, please. Oh! And while you're at it, do you mind if you shoot Astrid first? She tends to be really violent when she's nervous and it's really killing me."

If a glare could kill Eret wouldn't have to listen to Hiccup anymore as Astrid would have made more holes in him than a swiss cheese right now. Hiccup was pretty sure that even if his plan worked and they got out of here alive he wouldn't live the day to enjoy it.

Meanwhile Snotlout was looking at Hiccup with wild eyes. He had no idea that his cousin could be that bold. He knew for a long time that he could be really annoying but that he dared to say that about Astrid! He shuddered thinking what would have happen to him if he were the one that said it.

"I'm not joking here!"

Eret was nearly loosing it. He wouldn't let this buffoon mock him like that.

"Me neither. And make sure you don't miss."

Screw keeping his calm, Eret was just going to kill him.

"MEN!"

"Oh! Just one last thing!" Hiccup intervened before Eret could order his men to attack.

"Any dying wishes? Too bad because you won't have any."

"No, don't worry about that. Just be careful that an accident doesn't happen."

Eret had no idea where Hiccup was going at but he knew he won't like it.

"Yeah if you're not careful you don't know what could happen. For example I might drop this."

To illustrate his words he dropped the tube from his still extended arm. A collective gasp came out as Eret and his men were helplessly watching it fall to the ground. Waiting the very last second, Hiccup swiftly caught it right before it touched the ground.

"Oops there. That was close. You know I tend to be very clumsy with things, especially if I were to play with it."

He then began to playfully throw it a few feet in the air before catching it again and again. Every time it went up in the air, Eret and his crew were holding their breath, only releasing it when Hiccup caught the tube to only hold their breath again as he tossed it again. All eyes were like hypnotized, following the ups and downs of the tube, never able to dare looking away.

Eret desperately wanted to stop him and was trying to find a way out.

_Calm down, it's not that fragile. I'm sure that Drago made it strong enough to resist such a small shock. I bet that nothing happen even if it were to_ _fall. _

Despite all that reassurance, Eret's heart stopped for a moment when the tube slipped from Hiccup's finger. Hiccup once again nimbly caught it at the very last moment.

_At least I think it won't. _

"Oops! So sorry! As I told you I'm really clumsy. Who knows what kind of other crazy accident might happen with me. I mean, I might accidentally shoot it."

Hiccup suddenly put his gun on the tube for all to see. If Eret and his men didn't have a cardiac arrest before, they felt like they simultaneously got one at this exact moment.

_It definitely won't survive that!_

"ARE YOU CRAZY?!"

Hiccup looked at Eret as if he was an idiot for asking.

"I think we pretty much already established that. The real question is: are you crazy enough to try and take it from me?"

Eret was screwed and he knew it. He tried as much as he can to somehow bluff his way out.

"And what made you think that we won't chose to ignore your threat and kill you and your friends? Do you really think that this thing is that important to us?"

"Then why did you stop your men?"

Eret knew that he couldn't answer that. The simple fact that they were having this discussion was proof enough that Hiccup was right.

"I could very easily kill you in the most gruesome ways imaginable."

"Yeah. But then you'll have to explain to the Bloody Fist why this..." He threw once again the tube. "... got destroyed. And if my guess is correct, and it usually is, this is what they really wanted all along. Why they went through all that trouble to ambush Night Fury. But I'm sure they're just some really nice people and won't get mad at you for ruining all their long and hard effort if you apologize nicely."

One of Eret's men looked at Eret sheepishly and softly said:

"Drago doesn't take well to excuses."

_Drago? _

"Don't you think I know that?! And don't say his name!"

Hiccup couldn't help but wonder who was that Drago person. At the mere mention of his name he could feel that every member of Eret's crew became more tense and had a tighter grip on their weapons. Even Eret seemed more nervous. Hiccup could clearly see Eret's dilemma. In one hand he couldn't let him and the rest go with the tube but on the other hand he couldn't let the tube get broken or the Bloody Fist and this Drago person would have his head. If they are in a good mood.

_Good. Say conflicted like that and waste some time conjecturing what would be the best option. That way by the time you came to a decision the reinforcement will be there and we'll get both you and the tube. I only need to preserve the statu quo. _

Eret was enraging.

_How could the situation change so fast?! A minute ago he had them in the palm of his hand and now he was completely blocked by that annoying crazed cop. Worse it was a lab rat with a metal leg that single-handedly managed to safely gain cover for all of them and render us helpless! _

Eret quickly changed his train of thought. He couldn't be thinking like that. He wasn't helpless. It was just a minor and temporary set back.

_Take some deep breath and think again. They're still trapped, with no way out and limited munitions. And you've got all the time in the world, there is no network down here. You still got the upper hand, nothing has changed. _

With a renewed determination, Eret was ready for the second round.

"You're right. It is what they're looking for. But I do hope that didn't make any plans for today because you'll be here for a really long time. Because unless you give me that tube you're not leaving from here. We have all the time in the world and we won't leave until you hand over the tube." He looked straight at Hiccup with an angry glare and determination exalting from every pore of his skin. "You'll never hold on to that tube."

_Now the trickiest part. _

Hiccup needed every bit of talent he has for acting. He needed to convince Eret that he was faking confidence. Looking at him straight in the eyes, he spoke to him in a fake assured voice and sometimes looked away as if he was lying.

"W-Why would we need to stay here? Reinforcements should be here any minute now!"

Eret smirked at Hiccup fake assurance, now certain of his victory.

"Stop lying. You didn't call for backup before otherwise you wouldn't have entered here alone and and you couldn't have call for back up here because networks doesn't reach that far underground."

Hiccup did his very best to not do a victory dance and try to look like the very expression of defeat. Eret bought his lie and in less than ten minutes Cadmus Labs would be crawling with cops.

_Hook, line and sinker. _

"Fat chance you moron! Astrid managed to call for back up when you were shooting at us. They're already on their way."

Hiccup felt like the whole building had come crashing down onto him. His dumb cousin had managed to throw away his entire plan and their only chance to get out of here alive.

_Please don't believe Snotlout! Please don't believe Snotlout! Please don't believe Snotlout!_

But Snotlout definitely got Eret's attention.

"Really?"

_Nonononononono! Don't answer that! Don't say anything! Just don't say anything Snotlout!_

"You may have not heard it but the Snotman got one pair of sharp hear! I heard it just fine like I hear you right now."

Eret remembered Astrid shouting something at the first shots but it had been way too loud for him to understand what she said. He just assumed that she was yelling instructions to the others but now he had to reconsidered it. He knew that Snotlout was telling the truth, he seemed just way too dumb to be part of any plot and the look of defeat on Hiccup's face was saying it all.

"Well that changes everything."

_Indeed it changes everything. Now that he doesn't have time to waste he only have one option. Even if the Bloody Fist badly wants the tube there's no way in hell that they'll let the police have it. Rather than having it for themselves they'll prefer to have it destroyed and every witness killed. Eret now has every reason to get us killed. _

Hiccup's mind was running at furious speed to find a solution at the situation Snotlout put them into. Meanwhile Eret was really enjoying the struggle on Hiccup's face. He wanted to enjoy it more but now, thanks to that moron, he knew he didn't have time for that.

Hiccup recognized the look on Eret's face and knew that he was about to gave the order to charge. He tried one last desperate attempt.

"Wait! Listen to me!"

Eret simply pull out his gun.

"Ah! They all say that. Rush 'em, lads!"

Eret's crew all came from behind their hiding place, reading to rush forwards and fire like madmen. They didn't have time to surround them anymore, it was swim or sink. Hiccup knew he only got seconds to stop them and said the only thing he didn't want to say.

"I'LL GIVE YOU THE TUBE!"

They all stopped and looked at Eret, waiting for orders. Eret simply signed them to hold their position. He looked at Hiccup trying to guess what was his play. He seemed desperate and was holding the tube towards him.

"You'll gave me the tube?"

Hiccup withstood Eret's look and carefully chose his next words. It was his last plan, his last and ultimate card. He really didn't want to play it but he had no choice.

"I'll give you the tube and you and your men will leave this place and let us alive."

Eret simply laugh at Hiccup's guts and the naivety of his plan. He didn't expect that one.

"HAHAHA! You're a funny one, you know that?! That's really a good one." He wiped a small tear and went back to his serious tone. "And after you toyed so much with us you believe that we'll simply let you live?"

"It's a win-win situation for you if you do."

Eret carefully examined Hiccup's face. He seemed to really believe his words but after his last acting performance Eret wouldn't bet a dime on it. So he tested him.

"As you know, thanks to that moron over there, we are kind of in a hurry so you've got thirty seconds to prove to me how it is a win-win for us before I simply kill all of you, tube or no tube."

Hiccup simply nodded at the proposal and began explaining. He better be convincing or they were all dead.

"Even if you kill us in compensation, knowing the value of this tube I can safely presume that the Bloody Fist will be far more content if you were to bring it to them than if you were to prevent it to fall in the police's hand."

Eret nodded at Hiccup's statement. So far he agreed to that.

"It would be far more preferable for you to take the tube intact. And if you charge us I can guarantee that I'll destroy it without fail."

Again Eret simply nodded.

"Now that being said, it is also preferable for you to simply leave once you got the tube."

"How so?"

"This tube is the only source of light of this lab. Once you take it I assume that you'll make it leave this place otherwise it might caught a _stray_ bullet."

Eret quickly translated that if they attacked them with the tube still in the lab he'll shoot it down. And seeing how he managed to bust the light switch Eret wouldn't risk the tube for some extra light.

"Once the tube out of the lab, it will be completely dark in the lab and it'll became extremely difficult for you to hunt us down as we'll be able to freely disperse into the lab. And you're on the clock. You won't be able to kill all of us before the reinforcement arrived. Sure you might kill some of us but do you really want to risk being stuck in this place with the tube and dozens of cops flooding in?"

Eret said nothing but understood Hiccup's point. And he couldn't ignore it.

"From where I stand you got two choices: either you take the safe road, take the tube and leave without anymore bloodshot or you choose the revenge road, attack us, destroy the tube and risk getting caught. Your call."

Eret's men said nothing but Hiccup could see they were uneasy. Hiccup really got his point across them but wouldn't disobey their leader. He was the one who would call the shots. Hiccup, Astrid, Fishlegs and Snotlout's lives were depending of his decision.

There was a long silence where nothing was said and no one dared to speak. Eleven hearts were heavily beating awaiting the final decision on whether or not they would continue to beat.

"Alright I've decided."

All breath were hold while Eret was pronouncing his judgement.

"I'll take you on your offer. Give us the tube and we'll leave."

At this point Hiccup got no choice but to obey and trust that Eret has a better judgement than most Berkian criminal and kept his word. He took a few steps forward under the tense eyes of Eret's crew and delicately put down the tube on the ground. Once he got up he aimed his gun to the tube and slowly backed away. He didn't want any of them to have the bad idea to shoot him and make a run for the tube.

Thus while maintaining a staring contest with Eret, he safely walked back to safety behind the metal boxes with Astrid and the others.

Eret signed one of his men that Hiccup recognized to be Roscoe to grab the tube. Hiccup couldn't only watched as Roscoe was putting the tube in a mallet and walked to the door.

For a minute, as everything went dark, nobody said a word and nobody moved. The only light left was the one filtering from the large hall connecting the stairs and Main Lab A and B. However it was far too insuffisant to see more than a few yards in the lab. Most of it stayed completely into the dark. Finally Eret broke the silence:

"Let's draw back, lads."

One by one they left the lab in complete silence except for a few that bumped into different objects in the lab. Soon only Eret was left at the entrance.

"It's not over! Not by a long shot. You hear me scrawny?! Helheim's Gate is coming for you all!"

With a massive bang he closed the door and went his way. And despite all the setbacks and missing the opportunity to set things up with Hiccup, Eret couldn't help a small smile.

He was going to make Drago Bludvist very happy.

* * *

**Please review and indicate on the Google Docs on my profile page if I made any mistakes that hurt your eyes ^^**


	14. Chapter 14 - Busted

**Hiccup in a Flash, chap 14**

**I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or its characters, just merely borrowing the character for an adventure of my own.**

**Today I just read again all the reviews you guys have posted and I just wanted to say something: you guys are AWESOME! Just reading it again were enough to fuel my motivation. I always generally know what the next chapter would be about, the delay is mostly due to difficulty to find time and more importantly motivation and that's why your reviews are so important to me. Every day I will check if I don't have a new review and if I did it just made my day ^^ So please keep being awesome!**

**And finally and more importantly I would like to thanks Septimus714 who had made an amazing work beta correcting my fanfic, he made my first chapter so much smoother so once again thanks! **

**Please enjoy yourself with this fanfic ^^**

**\- Chapter 14: Busted**

* * *

The silence was suffocating. It filled the entire room and Astrid didn't know how to break it. She was itching to do anything other than simply waiting stupidly, sitting on her chair like she is but she knew she had no choice in the matter. Steeling herself for what was sure to come next, she kept her gaze steadily fixed on Stoick. Stoick the Vast was seated at his desk and was slowly reading Astrid's report on the event of the day. She was certain that he was purposely reading it front of her, sure he had already read it before. Otherwise she wouldn't be here. He was letting her stew in her own juice, so that she could guess just how badly she messed up.

Stiffening her posture she did her best to not let herself be distracted by the decorations and medals that were hanging on the walls alongside pictures of various personalities from all over the world that were shaking the hand of Commissioner Haddock. With her peripheral vision she spotted that there were only twos pictures on Stoick's desk. One was slightly turned in her direction and showed a much younger Stoick with a baby Hiccup. He couldn't have more than a few months and Astrid barely hold back a stifle at seeing how cute young Hiccup was on the picture. His eyes were already shockingly green and you could spot that glimpse of determination he already has as a baby as he seemed dead set on removing his diaper in the arm of a panicked Stoick that was struggling to keep him in place.

_So cute. And Stoick looked so panicked! It's weird seeing him like that._

Then she noticed something even weirder than Stoick being panicked. Stoick smiling. Even if the smile was of the barest twitch of the lips, it was unmistakably a smile that hinted at the amusement that could be seen in the eyes of the young Stoick despite being completely lost on what to do with baby Hiccup.

_I don't think I ever saw Stoick smiles before. _

She couldn't stop herself from contemplating the picture, barely according a glance at the other picture. She couldn't see it well but she recognized it to be the picture of Stoick that inspired so many Americans to come help Berk at the tragedy 23 years ago. It showed Stoick lifting, by himself, a block of cement twice his size to free an unfortunate victim trapped under rubble, only a dangling arm showing. Astrid was much more interested in the family picture, captivated by how unusual and yet so natural Stoick looks in it.

_Where's Hiccup's mom? _

"Humm"

She promptly lifted her head up, realizing that she had been caught staring. She was so engrossed by that picture that she didn't notice that Stoick had finished reading the report and was glaring at her as he caught her blatantly fixing his family picture.

"Do I bore you Detective Hofferson?"

Astrid didn't miss the cold tone in the question and judiciously chose to shake her head in denial. Stoick glared at her for a few moment before moving on to why she was here.

"The report that I just read is quite fascinating. Well I'm sure it's not as fascinating as my family picture but still."

_Busted. _

Saying nothing, she waited for him to continue.

"I really couldn't believe my eyes. As a matter of fact I got so intrigued that I asked you to come here to help me clear some points that stayed obscure to me."

_Here it comes._

"So let me see if I got it right. Ever since a warrant for Night Fury's arrest was issued 9 days ago, you didn't find any lead on Night Fury's whereabouts, you didn't get a step closer to finding anything on Helheim's Gate. Except for a thief that got a tattoo that is partly looking like the gang tattoo and that you presume to belong to another faction of Helheim's Gate. That same thief managed to steal our only intact clues on Night Fury at the evidence warehouse just 5 days ago; theft that I didn't been informed of. 5 days after that, you finally managed to find the hideout of this thief and his crew that you knew to be dangerous and armed. You didn't call for any backup and entered without warrant fully knowing that you would be outnumbered and most likely outgunned."

"We didn't need a warrant, there was probable cause."

Stoick glared at her as his voice went up a decibel higher.

"Because someone that you _presumed_ to be a member entered and because _there "were no signs" _if I quote you correctly?"

Stoick read this last sentence, barely believing the words. Astrid uncomfortably moved on her seat, knowing she should have phrased it better.

"The labs were supposed to be empty for treating the asbestos and lead contained in the walls. There was no sign of workers or treatment on the site. Moreover if they were decontaminating the place they should have closed the area off."

"And you didn't imagine that the crew you were pursuing had remove the signs and you entered without protection whatsoever in a potentially contaminated building. And thus you followed them with only two cops and a forensic scientist with not even 3 weeks of experience on the field?"

Astrid couldn't answer as she knew that she had no excuse.

"Then you got trapped by the crew you were pursuing and managed to survive because you miraculously succeed to somehow call for backup. If it wasn't for that phone call, you'd all be dead. Did I miss anything?"

"We got the metal boxes back." Astrid tried to defend.

"You might as well have lost them again! It's no use to us anymore. No matter what we found on it now we can't use it as the lawyers can argue that they could have been tampered with."

She knew he was right. Even if they were to find Night Fury's DNA on those boxes it would be inadmissible in court. And she couldn't argue with Stoick. She couldn't tell him that she managed to find Eret because she had been helped by Night Fury, nor could she tell him that they got closer to find Helheim's Gate motivation as Hiccup practically begged her not to speak to his father about the tube they found, promising to explain everything later. And, as much as it was tempting, she wasn't about to throw Snotlout under the bus about not reporting the theft at the evidence warehouse. Not that he wouldn't deserve it but she wasn't one to sell a comrade and she was responsible for the Night Fury and Helheim's Gate investigations. If one had to endure responsibility for her subordinates' actions it would be her.

Nonetheless she said nothing and stood up Stoick's furious glare. A feat that few were able to accomplish. After a long minute of a staring contest, Stoick finally softened his gaze and let out a huge sigh.

"Astrid, what should I do with you? Explain to me why I shouldn't get you of the case."

Without blinking, she looked straight at him and answered without a shred of doubt or hesitation.

"Because I'm your best detective, Commissioner."

Stoick knew that it was no bragging, simply a fact. Even if she just screwed up there was no replacing her.

For a long moment, nothing was said. Stoick was looking intensely at the report in front of him and Astrid was still stiffly staring straight ahead. The tension became heavy as Stoick was enumerating his options and Astrid was simply trying not to think at what other options could there be.

"Alright. I'll give you one last chance."

Astrid visibly eased up at those words but let nothing show.

"But let's be clear. No more failure like that. You keep me informed of everything and I do mean _everything_. You take no chance and always make sure that you got backup when about to face danger. And let's be clear: that's the only chance you'll get. If you were to pull off another stunt like today, I'll not only pull you off the case but I'll partner you up with Detective Jorgerson."

"SNOTLOUT?! But you can't! Not that moron, he'll ..." Astrid lost all composure at Stoick's threat.

There was no way in hell that she was going to be Snotlout's partner! But Stoick quickly interrupted her.

"I can and I will. You've been warned Detective Hofferson. I'll not tolerate another failure. Best detective or not, I'll try my chance with Detective Ingerman."

Astrid knew there was no discussing it. If she didn't provide results soon Snotlout would become her new partner and her case would be given to Fishlegs. Fishlegs was a good detective but she wasn't about to let him take her case. She nodded, darkly, and waited for Stoick to speak again.

"Very well. You can go. I expect results soon."

Without a word she promptly exited Stoick's office and made way to her next destination. Seeing her coming, everybody got out of her way, not wanting to suffer the wrath of a very pissed off Astrid.

_You better have good news for me Hiccup! _

* * *

Hiccup was at his lab, reviewing the results he just got from the examination of the box from Cadmus Labs. He asked that at least half of the boxes to be moved to his lab as well as the large generator that was connected to them. He had hoped that they could have caught Eret and the tube but as he suspected the reinforcement arrived way too late and Eret and his crew were long gone. He hoped that he could have made use of the dark in the Main Lab B when Eret left to disappear in the dark and go after them as Night Fury but Astrid had been watching the entrance like a hawk and had ordered all of them to stand beside her in case they decided they should have killed them after all and come back to finish the job. Stuck between Snotlout and Fishlegs he had no opportunities to discreetly disappear.

"Just as I thought..."

The results from his tests showed him that he had been right and that the worse was to be feared.

"Who knows how much damage they could do with what they took?"

Hiccup let out a large sigh as he was feeling rather tired. Physically he was fine, he managed to get them out of this mess by barely using his powers, but mentally the tension and pressure of his negotiation with Eret took quite its toll. He was really mad at Snotlout for ruining his plan. He had them in the palm of his hand and Snotlout had to open his big mouth of his and ruined everything. At the moment he really wanted to punch his face in but he really couldn't risk to lose a fighter in case they ever came back.

_There no use crying over spilled milk. At least we got their extractor. I'm pretty sure they would be pissed they lost it. That , at least, would be _some_ reward for the risk I took to get it. I hope they didn't see me use my power._

Hiccup knew he couldn't turn off the lights in the lab by just shooting at it from afar. He needed to get closer to it. That's why he needed to surprise Eret and his crew by suddenly shooting at them when they the least expected it so that had to quickly take cover in complete mayhem. He took advantage that no one was looking at him for a split second to rush to the light, turned it off and shoot the switch to disable it. He just hoped that Astrid and the others effectively followed his instructions and didn't open their eyes before the lights were off. But seeing how they hadn't been momentarily blinded by the dark and didn't jump at him for being Night Fury he was safe to presume they didn't see anything.

"I hope I won't ever have to that again. I really don't want to use my power in front of Astrid and the others. It risky enough that I have to help Astrid in capturing myself."

But the results on his computer screen were staring blankly at him, repeatedly telling him that his power would be needed more than ever.

* * *

Ruffnut had been really worried for a moment. When she heard that once again Astrid managed to got into deep problems and that she had called for backup under heavy fire she began to fear for the worst. It's extremely rare that Astrid calls for backup, usually preferring to charge head on into the heat of the fire and somehow manage to come out victorious. After all she once took an entire gang entirely by her own.

But recently things weren't the same. With the arrival of Helheim's Gate, criminals in Berk were beginning to change and step up their game. After all last time they saw them, they came across the largest shipment of hand grenades seized in Berk and something was telling Ruffnut that was merely the tip of the iceberg of the storm that'll soon fall on Berk. Gangs were beginning to organize, better equip themselves, getting bolder every day. She heard that even the Berserkers had start to think and plan before acting. Something was up but for the life of her Ruffnut couldn't tell what it was.

When she heard the call for backup from Astrid she grabbed her brother by the collar and ran to their car. She sped throughout Berk all the way to Cadmus Labs to see that everything had already been solved. She was glad to see that everyone was alright but didn't have time to talk to Astrid as Stoick ordered her to go back to write her report on what just happened, only seeing her from afar. She and her brother then stayed to help pack those huge metal boxes back to the Police Plaza. They were busy for the better part of an hour and as soon as they finished they had to go to the justice court as they were requested as witness for a trial.

They managed to do well despite the fact that didn't had time to prepare themselves as they should have. They only barely scared the jury, which is kind of achievement for them, and still nonetheless provided a damning enough testimony. By the time they finally got back to the detective squad it was already three in the afternoon. Astrid was nowhere to be seen as she had been called to Stoick's office. They only found Snotlout and Fishlegs surrounded by a large crowd. Detectives, officers and trainees were listening to the epic tale that Snotlout was narrating where he apparently single-handedly kept dozens of murderous criminal at bay by just glaring at them while Fishlegs seemed lost in thoughts as he was absentmindedly answering the few questions that were asking how much of what Snotlout was saying was true.

Ruffnut difficulty made her way to Snotlout and Fishlegs, her brother just behind her. As she was about to ask Snotlout about what happened this morning, the crowd suddenly split in two. Fuming in anger, Astrid was making her way to Snotlout and promptly everyone got out of her way. Ruffnut silently grinned and judged that questions could wait as she and her brother should enjoy the show.

_Oh! This'll be good._

Snotlout, curious as to why everybody went silent, just spotted Astrid and quickly corrected himself from the slouch position, hands behind his head that he took to narrate his story. Stiff like a stick he greeted Astrid.

"Hey babe! I was just telling them what happened this morning and..."

He suddenly froze as he met Astrid's vicious glare. Realizing his mistakes he unconsciously began to massage his arm.

"I didn't mean to call you like that babe- I mean Astrid! Astrid obviously, that what I really meant to say. I really didn't mean it, it's just more natural you know. Like I'm used to calling you babe, but I didn't mean- Not that you're not a babe, because you are. It's just that..."

He stopped as Astrid smile at him. Astrid never smile at him or at anyone for that matter. Sure she sometimes laugh with Ruffnut or even more rarely had a small smile when they've done really good but never openly like that. But for a reason that he couldn't explain, her smile sent a cold shiver down Snotlout's spine.

"Sure Snotlout, I understand. You really didn't mean it. It just some things that sometimes you just can't stop saying. I perfectly understand, don't worry."

And then to everyone's surprise she voluptuously approach and gently reached Snotlout's hand. Snotlout, too surprised to react and clearly didn't believing his luck, let her unsuspiciously take his hand as she bend over to sensually whisper to his ear.

"Just like you didn't mean to get us all killed by revealing precious information." She spoke softly enough so that only Snotlout could hear it, only Fishlegs could have guessed what she just said.

"What?"

But before he could register it, he felt a sharp pain coming from the hand that Astrid was currently holding. Nearly screaming of pain he observed through the tears that were quickly forming in his eyes what she was doing to his hand. He saw that she was violently squeezing with her fingers his hand, to be more specific she was squeezing the area between his thumb and his index finger and for some reason he couldn't feel any strength in his arm.

"AW!AW!Aw! Astrid! Astrid, please stop! What are you doing?! What did I say?!"

Astrid simply squeezed harder as she silently watched Snotlout squirm under her feet.

"AW! Seriously what? What precious information?! I just said the same thing as Hiccup. If someone put us in danger it was him!"

That's when Astrid realized. Snotlout was just too plain stupid to understand how close they came to be killed because of him. He didn't comprehend how different it had been when Hiccup said it and when he said it. He didn't even realized that Hiccup saved their skin by his quick judgement and never would in a million years.

Completely loosing any interest in Snotlout, she then turned to Fishlegs.

"Where's Hiccup?"

Fishlegs nearly jump out of his chair when Astrid talked to him but he promptly answered.

"I'm not sure. I-I think he's still in his lab."

Then without another word, after one last squeeze to Snotlout's hand, she made her way to the forensic lab.

The crowd around Fishlegs and Snotlout quickly dispersed, suddenly remembering some urgent work to do, and Ruffnut and Tuffnut could finally approach the two of them.

"Wow! She seemed pissed. What happened?"

Snotlout said nothing, being busy to get back any feeling in his arm, so Fishlegs answered in his stead.

"I think it didn't go well with Stoick. It's not that surprising considering how horrible it went this morning."

"What happened exactly?" Ruffnut promptly turning to Fishlegs as she saw Snotlout was about to answer. "The truth please."

Letting out a sigh, Fishlegs began to explain what happened this morning. The boxes that got stolen, how Astrid got a lead on a potential new member of Eret's crew, how they followed him to Cadmus Labs and how they got ambushed. Ruffnut was really surprised to learn Hiccup's part in how they managed to get out of it alive. She assumed that Astrid had just blasted her way out of there.

"So you're saying that Hiccup actually managed to threaten Eret and his crew? Seriously? Hiccup managed to hold his own in front of a gang dead set on killing you?!"

"I was as surprised as you! I never would have thought he had the guts to pull a stunt like that. It was impressive to say the least."

Snotlout for his part wasn't quite as impressed; rather, he was feeling jealous of his cousin, feeling as though he should be getting the attention.

"Ugh! He was so not impressive. I totally could have done what he did."

"So why didn't you?" Tuffnut couldn't resist asking.

"I-I was too busy keeping in check the others by glaring at them. I didn't have time to deal with the leader."

"Hm hm." Ruffnut was totally not buying it but a question still stayed in her mind.

"But what was in that tube exactly?"

Fishlegs and Snotlout exchanged an uneasy look.

"We don't know exactly" explained Fishlegs. "Hiccup said he couldn't explain it right now and told Astrid he needed to tell her something later in private."

Ruffnut found it pretty suspicious. It was not Astrid's type to keep a secret like that.

"So those two are keeping secrets on the true reason of why that tube was so damn important?"

Fishlegs and Snotlout couldn't deny it and didn't like it any more than her.

"Any idea why they're keeping it a secret?" asked Ruffnut.

Snotlout merely shrugged his shoulder while Fishlegs seemed pretty uncomfortable.

"Fishlegs?"

"Well I think it might have something to do with Night Fury."

"Seriously?! How do you know that?"

Ruffnut was quite surprised to hear that. She had no idea how Night Fury fitted in the picture and judging by his reaction, neither did Snotlout.

"I-I don't think I should..."

Ruffnut had no patience for his moral dilemma. She could feel that it was something juicy.

"Fishlegs..."

Fishlegs seemed torn between his loyalty to Astrid and the need to get it off his chest. He's been holding it for the past two days and couldn't bear it anymore.

"Alright!" He quickly looked around to see that no one else was listening and promptly began to explain. "Here is what I saw..."

* * *

Astrid stopped had the entrance of the BCPD forensic lab and looked by the window to see if Hiccup was effectively here. He was currently staring at a computer wired through different cables to the large machine they saw connected to the metal boxes in Cadmus Labs. He was deep in thought and hadn't noticed her yet.

_Alright Astrid, time to make an entrance. _

She grabbed the handle but didn't open the door. She couldn't make up her mind on how to face him. She knew that he was supposed to be just a lab rat with just 3 weeks on the field as Stoick reminded her but as much as she hated to admit he had really impressed her. How he calmly and promptly analyzed the situation, how he immediately found the best course of action, how he made up plans after plans on the spur of the moment, ready to face any unexpected changes _and the way he managed to negotiate with Eret!_

_Brash and yet composed; showing cleverness that gave the impression that he was in perfect control but looking mad enough to be unpredictable. Always a step ahead he had lead Eret exactly where he wanted him by a clever use of his acting skills._

Astrid couldn't tell how much of it was acting and how much was just pure madness. Thinking back on it she found it to be even more impressive how much he instantly planned ahead. It was something she would never be able to copy.

Astrid always proud herself to perfectly know what was her strength and weaknesses. And she knew that the way Hiccup lead the negotiation was not in her skill set. She would have try to force her way out rather than thinking what would be unthinkable for their opponents. Even if she could she didn't know if she could have hidden her assets like Hiccup. You naturally didn't suspect him to be able to do anything but if the circumstances call for it, he could reveal a huge bag of tricks, making him always able to surprise his enemies.

_And not just his enemies. He also surprises his allies, I never knew he was able to do all that. Like I didn't know that he was able to pick locks. And how did he manage to shut off the lights? I only heard him shoot twice and the lights shut off only after a third shot that came from Eret's side._

The more she was thinking about it, the more questions she had.

_What was in that tube? How did he know what it was? How did he know that it was in Main Lab B when the tracks were leading to Main Lab A?_

Her mind began to swirl under questions until she began to feel a bit dizzy by all the questions that this morning raised. Chasing those dizzy thoughts she made her mind as she open the door of the lab.

_Time to get some answers._

"Hiccup! You promised me answers and you'd better have some damn good ones or I swear to Thor that I'll make you regret that Eret didn't take up your offer to shoot me!"

Hiccup mentally cringed upon hearing it.

_Sh*t! She didn't forget._

He desperately tried to look for a good answer as Astrid was walking over to him like a raging bull.

"Err.. It might depend on the questions?"

_Not your best Hiccup._

"Don't play games with me." Accusingly pointing her finger at his torso. "You better start answering while I still ask nicely. I just had a _lovely _chat with your father in his office and I'm really not in the mood for trick questions."

Hiccup could see that she wasn't kidding and super healing or not he would not bet much on his life if he didn't give her what she was asking.

"I'm not trying to play games with you Astrid, I just may not have the answers to all your questions. I might be able to answer some but others might be as much of a mystery for you as it is for me. So you can ask me any questions but I can't promise that I can answer all of them."

She could see that he was being honest with her and decided to calm down a bit and give him a chance. But she did not forget his little stunt of this morning.

"Alright, let's start simple. When did you learn to pick locks?"

_Because it became necessary for me as I moonlight as Night Fury? Better find a better answer than that. _

"Simple, I'm forensic scientist. Some of the evidence that comes through here are still locked and needs to be opened. After I understood the mechanisms of a lock it was quite simple for me to figure out how to pick locks."

_Even if I usually just pierce the lock with a drill._

Astrid seemed quite satisfied with the answer and continued to her next one.

"How did you know we needed to go into the Main Lab B? The tracks were leading to Main Lab A."

_Ugh! Another question I don't want to answer. I can't just tell her that I felt something calling for me in it._

"Err... I though if they went to all that trouble to get those boxes they might have locked it under key rather than letting it in an open room like the Main Lab A."

"Then why didn't you search the other locked rooms of Cadmus Labs?"

"They were too small to have contained the boxes."

"Why didn't you tell us anything?"

"It was just a hypothesis, I didn't think it would actually turn out to be true."

_Wow I'm getting good at improvising excuses! I could almost believe myself._

But Astrid wasn't that convinced. Her instincts were telling her that something fishy was going and she would be damned if she didn't find out what.

"How did you turn off the lights?"

"Huh?"

"I heard 2 shots but that didn't turn off the lights. A third shoot did it but it came from Eret's side. What happened?"

"Err... it took some time for the lights to turn off?"

Hiccup made his best to not make it sound like a question but Astrid would have none of it. She'll get to the bottom of it.

"You honestly expect me to believe that..."

She was suddenly interrupted as the doors of the lab are slammed open by Ruffnut, the rest of the gang hot on her trail.

"ASTRID! You slept with Night Fury?!"

"WHAT?!" Astrid and Hiccup yelled in the same voice.

"Oh, you naughty girl! How could you have not told anything to me, your best friend?! I'm so hurt!"

"What the f*ck?!"

Snotlout suddenly appeared at Ruffnut's side, looking completely devastated.

"Is it true Astrid?!"

Astrid merely blinked as she was trying to make sense of the scene happening in front of her. Ruffnut was still standing in the entrance of the lab, an emotionally disturbed Snotlout to her right side while a panting Fishlegs seemed to try to hide behind Ruffnut. Tuffnut casually entered in the lab, feeling his usual merry self when there was trouble. He playfully winked at her while saying:

"You go girl! I knew you had it in you!"

Astrid finally broke out of her stupor while Hiccup was still agape at what was happening. She felt like words weren't enough to express her indignation.

"NO! I DID NOT SLEEP WITH HIM! How did you even come up with such an idea?!"

Ruffnut remained unimpressed at Astrid sudden outburst and merely shrugged.

"Fishlegs told us."

"Don'tdragmeintoit!" He hissed to Ruffnut but too late. Astrid's eyes were drilling holes into his head, awaiting answers.

"Fishlegs..."

"Ididn'tsayanything! It's Ruffnut she..." answered a slightly panicked Fishlegs, desperately trying to hide behind Ruffnut.

"Fishlegs, what did you say?" asked excruciatingly slowly Astrid, venom dripping from every word.

Fishlegs gulped loudly, now certain that no matter what he said he'll have a very painful death. Addressing a silent prayer at whoever might be crazy enough to save him from Astrid's wrath, he began to slowly explain himself.

"Do you remember two days ago when you yelled in the detective squad for no apparent reason?"

Astrid silently nodded, clearly remembering how that jerk of Night Fury had surprised her at her desk.

"Well, I got worried about you and when I saw that you were no longer at your desk when I finished my report I thought you might have gone to the dojo to relieve some frustration. So I went to find you at the dojo, I thought you might enjoy to have a partner to spar with."

"Obviously she did." snickered Ruffnut.

Astrid silenced her with an evil glare and signed Fishlegs to continue.

"As- as I was about to enter the dojo after changing into the locker room I saw you through the window of the door, with Ni- Night Fury. He was on top of you and after you discussed with him he helped you get up and I saw you flirting with him."

"I WAS NOT FLIRTING!"

Fishlegs continued in a hesitant voice.

"You smiled at him." And finally added after a small hesitation. "Softly."

Ruffnut had a winning grin.

"And that's proof that you slept with him!" she proudly claimed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"That's your proof?!" Astrid couldn't believe her ears.

"Irrefutable!" added Tuffnut.

"Babe, how could you do that to us?!" Snotlout sounded hurt and was on the edge of crying.

"First of all, I'm not your babe! There is no _us_ and I DID NOT SLEEP WITH NIGHT FURY!"

"Then what was he doing here?"

"He was helping me investigate the Helheim's Gate gang!"

A sudden silence dropped over the lab as everyone of the newcomers were shocked by Astrid's words.

"Are you like working with him?" asked a stupefied Ruffnut.

Astrid was hesitant to answer that question. She didn't plan to get them involved in it but she also hadn't expected that Fishlegs would see her with Night Fury. At this point there was no turning back.

"Yes."

"Wow!" Fishlegs's jaw was dangerously dropping. Only to be match by Snotlout's astonished round eyes.

"That's ..."

"So..."

"Sick." completed Tuffnut.

"Sick?!" asked Astrid.

They all looked each other, trying to find what to say.

"Well you know, it's you." began to explain Ruffnut. "You've always played by the book and was solely focused on your work and stuff. That you might compromise all that by working with Night Fury it's like..."

"Unthinkable." finished Tuffnut. The others silently nodded in approval.

Astrid was completely dumbfounded at what she was hearing. It was so insane.

"And you were totally fine imagining that I slept with him?!"

Ruffnut looked at her as she just said something incredibly stupid.

"That's totally different. It's a completely separate thing."

Once again they all silently approved.

Astrid nearly yelled in frustration while throwing her arms in the air. Sometimes she really hated Ruffnut and how little sense she made.

Hiccup gently tapped her shoulder in comprehension while flashing her a comforting smile. He then turned to the intruders.

"You can't tell anyone that Night Fury is helping the investigation. It'll ruin every chance we might have to catch Helheim's Gate gang."

Everyone surprisingly looked at him, having totally forgot that he was there. Hiccup had watched the entire exchanged and couldn't decided if he should be horrified at what he was hearing or just plainly amused at Astrid's frustration. But in any case, now that the cat was out of the bag he had to put things under control and assure that no one else knows about it or it could have dire consequences.

Astrid quickly realized what Hiccup was doing and immediately jumped in.

"You have to promise to not tell a soul. We'll explain it to you later but right now it is vital that no one else knows anything about Night Fury's involvement. It's important if we want to be able to catch the Helheim's Gate AND Night Fury."

"You're trying to catch Night Fury? I thought you said you were working with him."

"I am but I still fully intend to catch the bastard."

Her eyes were throwing lightning as she pronounced those words, defying anyone to challenge her to say that she was thinking otherwise.

After a long moment, they silently interrogated each other. They were trusting Astrid but it could get them into serious trouble. Finally Fishlegs broke the heavy silence, weighing heavily in the lab.

"I trust you. I promise."

Astrid had a small smile, knowing how much it meant for Fishlegs.

With a sigh Ruffnut promised too.

"Okay, I promise."

Tuffnut quickly joined his sister.

"Sounds like trouble. I'm in."

Everyone looked at Snotlout who still haven't said anything. Seeing that everybody was looking at him, he shyly asked Astrid.

"So you didn't sleep with him?"

Astrid rolled her eyes, astonished that she even had to answer such question.

"No I did not sleep with Night Fury."

Snotlout immediately cheered up.

"Alright, I'm in!"

Astrid was immensely relieved that they all agreed so quickly. She was also touched by how much they trusted her. She could almost feel some tears well up in her eyes. Ruffnut interrupted Astrid's emotional moment by asking the question on everyone's lips.

"So now what?"

Astrid turned to Hiccup for ideas, not having a clue on how they should explain all this. Hiccup mentally acknowledged the silent question and decided it would better for them to understand what was at stake before explaining the how and why.

"Before we explain to you how exactly and why we asked for Night Fury's help, I think you might want to know why we all risked our lives this morning."

Everyone immediately went silent and were fully concentrated on Hiccup. Even Astrid didn't know what he was about to say.

"I'm sure you remember the tube that I traded with Eret and that I asked you to not tell anyone about it."

They all silently nodded while the twins curiously looked at Hiccup.

"After some more extensive examination of the generator found at Cadmus Labs and the boxes that were stolen from the BCPD I think I have a pretty good idea of what was in that tube."

They were hanging off his every word, eager to know what was in that tube that had been worth more than their lives this morning. Hiccup slightly hesitated before continuing. He would prefer to keep his discovery a secret but now that the Helheim's Gate had the tube, he had no choice.

"In that tube were Night Fury's power. A new kind of invaluable energy that I call the _**Speed Force**_."

* * *

**More on the next chapter ^^ I hope you enjoyed and please review your frustration and excitement ^^**


	15. Chapter 15 - Speed Force

**Hiccup in a Flash, chap 15**

**I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or its characters, just merely borrowing the character for an adventure of my own.**

**To answer Angryhenry, it is possible to contain the speed force. In the DC Comics The New 52, Dr Elias have done it in the issue 7 of The Flash ^^**

**Sorry for the long wait, here is my longest chapter so far.**

**Please enjoy yourself with this fanfic ^^**

**\- Chapter 15: Speed Force**

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"Speed Force?" Astrid had no idea what Hiccup was talking about and looking around her, neither did anybody else in the room. "What's that? And what do you mean by Night Fury's power?"

That part had really intrigued her. Maybe she'll finally learn how it was possible for a human to run that fast.

_If he really is human._

Looking at him for an answer she groaned inwardly. Hiccup had that cocky smile that she had come to hate. It was usually right before he was exposing a _brilliant_ idea of his.

"Do you remember your meeting with Night Fury, when you ask for his help?"

Now Snotlout, Fishlegs and the twins were looking widely at her. They never heard of Astrid asking for help. Sure sometimes she _ordered_ for help but never asked for it. She didn't miss her friends' reaction but chose to completely ignore it.

"Sure. That was your plan. While I distracted him by asking for help you scanned him and measured all kind of things so that you can get a better understanding of his power, right?"

"Precisely! And the results were quite baffling. Here's what I found."

He turned to his computer and launched on the large screen on the side wall the video of her meeting with Night Fury.

They could see Astrid cursing between her breath, jumping from one foot to the other trying to keep herself warm. She seemed pretty pissed and was waiting for someone. As she was rubbing her hands, they could distinctly heard speaking in a low voice through a hidden mic.

_"Hiccup, it is nearly time. You better answer right now if you don't want me to give you another _slight nudge_ in the ribs!"_

She looked around and her gaze seemed lost on a corner of the street that wasn't on the camera. She fixed the same spot for a long moment when there was a slight blur on the picture. She then turned over to see nothing. As she was turning Night Fury suddenly materialized just behind her and waited for her to notice him.

_"What the... I didn't hear you coming."_

The low deep voice of Night Fury surprised them all.

_"I don't always come screaming."_

"Are you blushing?" Ruffnut couldn't believe her eyes.

"No I'm not!" protested Astrid. "It was just really cold."

"Sure." Ruffnut wasn't really buying it.

"No really, I..."

"Shh! We're trying to watch here." complained Tuffnut in a really annoyed voice.

Astrid took time to watch the others around her. They were all engrossed in the footage at different levels. The twins were looking like they were about to pop some popcorn to better enjoy the show. Fishlegs was focusing on the footage to be sure to not miss any details. Snotlout was furiously staring at Night Fury's image as if he could somehow intimidate him through the screen. Hiccup was just observing the other's reaction with a small smile on his lips.

_"As I told you before, that was because you broke the law."_

_"You did said that. And if I remember correctly you shot at me for speeding right? You also did promise me to catch me and you set up traps for me all week with your friends of the BCPD."_

"You're so flirting with him."

"No I'm not."

"Whatever."

Astrid inwardly groaned, there was no arguing with Ruffnut.

_Hiccup better have a damn good reason to embarrass me like this._

The footage went on and Astrid noticed that there were some graphs about different variables being examined at the same time. Already knowing how the exchange would go, she took time to look at the readings. There was one analyzing the sound, another showing the luminosity, one in the corner showing what seemed to be some strange formula, something about _∂E_, _∂t_, _µ0_ and reverse _∆B_. All kind of others variables were translated in graphs that Astrid just couldn't make any sense even when it had an English title.

_What's the hell is enthalpy? Is it even an English_ _word? _

But she could also see that there wasn't just graphs. Hiccup's computer was showing the same footage that the screen on the wall but with different filters applied like thermal imaging, infrared filter, echo sound imaging and some others that she couldn't identify.

_He really measured everything. He must have hidden a lot more equipment in that alley than I had realized. _

She broke from her stupor when a distorted laugh suddenly exploded in her hears.

_"Good luck with that! How should I contact you?"_

_"Why don't you just stop at my desk?"_

_Erk! Next time I say such a stupid thing just kill me__! _

As if hearing her, Night Fury's image seemed to answer her.

_"Deal!" _

Then he disappeared as suddenly as he had appeared before, just leaving behind a small black blur with some purple sparks. As the footage froze on that last picture Astrid frowned as something caught her attention. Something looked very familiar. But as she was about to ask Hiccup about it, the rest of the gang spoke all at the same time. She had been so absorbed that she had momentarily forgotten them as they erupted in questioning.

"Wow! That was insanely cool! Can he shoot lasers from his eyes?"

"You're sure you haven't slept with him?"

"Hiccup, _you _proposed to work with Night Fury?! I suppose it make sense but still..."

"You're not interested in _that _guy right Astrid? I mean, he seems like a big loser in comparison to me."

"I bet you felt quite kinky being so close to him!"

"And going behind Stoick? I'm not sure it's a great idea."

"Imagine how cool it would be if he could shoot lasers from his eyes? He could destroy like a lot of stuff."

"Moreover, you still have me. I don't see why you would be interested in _him_. Right babe?"

She could feel that a headache was merely moments away.

"First things first. I'm not your babe Snotlout. Ruffnut for the last time, I'm not flirting and even less sleeping with Night Fury. Tuffnut, I don't think he could shoot _laser_ from his eyes and finally we're not totally going behind Stoick's back Fishlegs."

"So Stoick knows about it?" asked Fishlegs hesitantly.

"Not in so many word." answered Hiccup. "But we will inform him once we got enough proof to arrest Helheim's Gate."

"Or to arrest Night Fury." completed Astrid.

"Yes that too." grudgingly admitted Hiccup. It was clearly not an outcome he hoped to reach. "Now that you've seen this footage you understand why we decided to work with Night Fury. He might be our only chance to catch the Helheim's Gate. It's thanks to him that we linked Eret to Helheim's Gate."

"How?" asked Ruffnut.

"I'll explain later", said Hiccup. "But first there are a few things that you need to know."

"Alright so where is the stuff about Night Fury's powers? Didn't you say that you found something about it?"

Hiccup looked strangely at his cousin. He had never seen him so eager to listen to him.

"What? I want to know exactly how I can kick that showoff's butt."

_Of course..._

"Alright I'll start explaining. I showed you that footage for two reasons. First so that you can understand our reasons behind our unexpected alliance with Night Fury and second was to show you this."

He inverted the content on his computer, effectively showing on the wall screen the split screens with all the graphs and filtered footage of Astrid's discussion with Night Fury.

"And more precisely the parts were Night Fury arrives and leaves. I'll slow the footage to the maximum."

It was barely enough to see what was happening. Frame by frame they saw that the blur they saw at the beginning was in the shape of a man that was moving toward Astrid. They got a better view of him when he slightly stopped near her and his arms became a blur that moved all around her body. Then he moved again and got out of the frame before reappearing moments later and coming to a stop just behind Astrid. Hiccup skipped to the last part where Night Fury left but this time he seems to be moving even faster as they could no longer make out the shape of a man, seeing only a moving blur with purple sparks. Again Astrid was struck by how familiar they seemed but couldn't for the life of her remember where she saw such thing. Silently shifting through her memories, she waited for Hiccup to start explaining.

"So did you see it?"

Hiccup was excited and was waiting for an answer. They all looked at each others, not sure of what they were supposed to see.

"What was it to see? It's just Night Fury making a pass at Astrid. He's just a pervert."

Hiccup groaned inwardly.

_It'll be a very tiring day. _

"Alright. Did you notice the differences in the thermal imaging between Night Fury and Astrid?"

They looked back at the screen while Hiccup rewound the footage at the first appearance of Night Fury.

"He seems to be a lot hotter than Astrid. I mean on the image his whole body seemed to be completely red while her's is partially red but mostly yellow and green."

"Exactly and now observe what is happening when he stopped moving."

He froze the frame when Astrid was about to turn over.

"He's still hotter but a lot less. He's nearly the same as Astrid."

"You're right again Fishlegs. And if you observe when he's leaving," he promptly fast-forwarded the video, " you can see that he instantly became a lot more hotter."

They all silently nodded as they observed he was right.

"Now how do you think Night Fury is able to move so fast?"

"Well, he got powers."

Hiccup rolled his eyes at the _serious _answer of his cousin.

"Beside the obvious Captain."

"What?! But I'm not captain, why do you call me that? Not that I have anything against being a captain but..."

This time it was Astrid that rolled her eyes at Snotlout's thickness. There was no reforming that idiot.

"I- I don't think he meant it that way Snotlout." Fishlegs tried to explain to the ignorant man.

"Then what did he mean then Fishlegs? Since you obviously know better."

"Well... Captain Obvious?"

Snotlout looked at him as if he had two heads.

"Captain who now? Who's that guy?"

"Snotlout that's not what..." started Astrid. "Never mind, forget it."

"It was a word play Snotlout," explained Hiccup. "I was hoping for an answer at my question that goes beyond the obvious."

"But that's still a damn good answer right. If he can move that fast that's because he got powers that's it. What more could there be?" insisted Snotlout.

Hiccup decided it would be best to just ignore Snotlout for the rest of the explanation. The others could complete it for him later.

"So how do you think Night Fury is able to move so fast?"

They all stopped to think about it while Snotlout was pouting.

"Because he got magical powers given to him by an old wizard!" said Tuffnut.

"No, it's because he can harvest lightning." stated Ruffnut as if it was obvious.

"A genetic manipulation gave him the possibility to move faster?", offered Fishlegs.

"Better, he's an alien from a destroyed planet that was sent to Earth as a baby and he's now embracing his destiny as a hero."

"That's too cliché! He was a regular guy that got mixed up in a chemical incident that left him in the coma and he had just awoken from it. He discovered that he can see the world as fast as a fly and move as fast as one but still can't fly and the accident made him super ugly that's why he's wearing a mask."

"Oh no, I know! He's a cyborg with implants that made him a superhuman and to avenge his parents he decided to..."

"Guys! Guys! Be serious for a second!" Astrid intervened as it began to escalate in a weird competition of origin stories between the twins. "This is not a comic book. Try to think for a moment."

But as much as she hated to admit she didn't have better explanations than the twins. Every time she was trying to wrap her mind around what Night Fury was capable of, it soon began to sound an awful lot like the comics that Fishlegs enjoyed reading. Meanwhile Hiccup was watching them with a fond amusement as some explanations were utterly ridiculous but some half truths could be found then and there. He watched as they attempted to find a plausible answer for a few more moments before he decided to intervene.

"Well, that was some interesting answers but I think I might have not correctly formulated the question. What I wanted to say is that no matter the origin of the power of Night Fury, be it magically, psychic or genetic, we can globally divided the theories in two categories. Either he is able to generate a large quantity of energy that he uses to move that fast or a large quantity of power is contained in him and by releasing it he can move that fast."

Astrid and Fishlegs silently nodded while the others seemed to be confused.

"If we take the hypothesis that he is an alien, either his metabolism allows him to produce enough energy to move that fast or his metabolism allows him to stock another energy like electricity or lightning that he can then release to make him move that fast. Or it could be a bit of both."

"So he is an alien?" asked Snotlout.

"I did not say that. It was just an illustration of the two categories I meant. But it could be. Very unlikely but I can't prove it otherwise. However I think I can prove that Night Fury's power doesn't enter in either of these categories."

That seemed to catch everyone's attention and Astrid said the question that was on everyone's lips.

"How?"

Hiccup answered with his crooked smile.

"With what I just showed you."

"The footage of the alley?"

"Yes."

"Again, how?"

"The most telling thing is the thermal analysis of the footage. You can see that when he is using his powers the temperature of his entire body raised several notches. His whole body became around 50° celsius," as he saw the confused expression on Snotlout's face he added, "it's around 122° fahrenheit."

"Hey it's not really hot, I think that once I got a fever and my temperature was way more than that."

"You'd be dead if that were true Snotlout. Besides I'm pretty sure that this rise in internal temperature is not the source of his power but a side effect. There are other variables that prove to be more interesting in that matter like his electric conductance or his magnetic field that are showing results that seemed linked to the amount of power he's using. But that's not my point right now. What really interests me in those thermal readings is that they are far more telling in the fact that you can physically measure whether or not he uses his powers. And that made me realize this."

He quickly moved back on the video and stopped the frame when Night Fury appeared behind Astrid.

"When he stopped, all the variables went back to that of a normal person. There is no trace whatsoever of his powers, the thermal scan shows the same amount of heat everywhere in his body, no region stays suspiciously warm, the magnetic field is normal and the electric conductance dropped a lot, matching those of a regular person. All of those factors lead me to believe that he didn't have a stock of whatever energy is giving him his abilities. All the indicators, that we know are associated to his powers, just disappeared as soon as he stopped himself. There was no abnormality at all, not a trace left of his powers, as if he never got any in the first place. And I think that's because there is no materialization of his powers in him when he's not using them, they only appeared if he needs. That excludes the possibility of a reserve of hidden power inside him."

That last point really interested Astrid.

"Are you saying that when he stopped he's defenseless? He went back to a normal person?"

"No, that's not what I'm saying. For example, when you speak you vibrate your vocal cords to produce sounds. By doing so you generate some kinetic energy and other kind of residual energies in your throat. Now imagine that you're the only person able to speak in the world. When you speak we could measure that there is some energy building up in your throat that could be considered characteristic of you being able to speak. However it's not because you have this energy in your throat that you can speak and you not having it is not a sign of you not being able to speak again but merely the sign that you stop using your ability to speak. When you speak, scans could pick up that you're doing something different from others but if you decide to stop they couldn't be able to tell you apart from the rest of the world. Thus you being able to speak is not due to energy stocked in your throat but because you have the ability to move your throat muscle to vibrate your vocal cords, resulting in energy being built up in your throat. To put it in a more simple way, you can speak because you simply have the ability to produce sounds and not because some hidden energy produces sounds as you use it."

Astrid was still trying to wrap her head around the difference in subtleties while the others seemed lost. Fishlegs however seemed to have understood and tried to explain to the others.

"I know it's like being able to do something with your body that nobody else can do. We're all physically constituted the same but you can do something that we can't. Scans would show nothing different from others but others still can't do it. In comparison to Night Fury's case, when he's running like nobody can, the scans can picked up something different but once he stops using his powers the scans can't show that he's different from the rest of us. So what he's doing is not from some hidden power inside him but more of a skill that he can use at will." He then turned to Hiccup. "But if his ability to run that fast is a skill, then it would take a tremendous toll on his body to use it. Wouldn't he need to compensate for energy loss somehow? Like needing to eat an awful lot of food?"

Hiccup was pleased to see that someone had manage to follow his reasoning. For once someone other than Gobber and occasionally some other members of the forensic labs had manage to listen to one of his explanations without looking at him as he just spoke Martian.

"So what? Night Fury is a big eater?" asked Ruffnut, "He seemed rather slim to me, how much can he really eat?"

Fishlegs seemed to ponder the question. Even though he seemed to understand the logic of it he had no idea how much energy would be needed for running that fast nor did he have the faintest idea how much energy food could really bring to him.

Hiccup went to Fishlegs' rescue and answered Ruffnut's question for him.

"If we were to assume that he replenish his energy primarily with food, according to the readings I got on the energy he spent when he run, I can roughly estimate that he needs to consume an amount equal to roughly 850 tacos."

Seeing how everyone went silent, Hiccup couldn't resist delivering the last blow.

"At each meal."

Tuffnut emitted a slow whistle while they all were trying to figure out how someone could need enough food to eat twice his size if not more. And thus three times a day.

"Unless we're talking cheese and guac, which is like a whole other set of equations." jokingly added Hiccup.

"How is that even possible? That's absurd, there is no way that anyone could eat that much and even if he could, there is no way that Night Fury could stay in such shape." blabbered Fishlegs as he was getting lost in speculations. "He'll need at least twice his volume to even contain such amount of food and don't get me started on how many times he would need to go to the toilet..."

"Nobody asked you to go there Fishlegs." coldly replied Astrid.

"No but this is important Astrid," responded a slightly offended Fishlegs, "Eating that much food every day would have a major impact in his daily activities. The budget alone needed to buy all that food alone would be quite consequential; and in all likelihood he'd need to stop to eat on a regular basis and it could really help us catch him. There aren't many other people that can eat that much and not immediately become obese."

"You know something about it right Fishlegs?" said Snotlout with a sly smile. "Bet, you're quite jealous of him. After all you..."

Snotlout was rendered silent by a nonchalant vicious elbow in the ribs. It earned Astrid a grateful look from Fishlegs while she continued undisturbed.

"You're right Fishlegs, it could be a major lead for the case. It shouldn't be too hard to find someone who can eat for 800 people at every meal. It might be why we don't often see him during the day. I don't think he could go to a tacos stand and order 800 tacos. He'll more likely present himself as a restaurant owner or a cook to buy his food. He could have a fake business or actually work in a restaurant. It might be easier and less suspicious for him but he'll need to be the owner or the head cook to be able to hide how much food is disappearing everyday. It might be tricky to find him."

A plan was quickly forming in Astrid's head. It might get difficult to track him if he really was working in a restaurant but if he was faking a business it might be easier to track him. There was also the possibility that he was employing a caterer to cook his meals.

_Better start with that. _

"Fishlegs," he promptly shifted his gaze from the squirming form of Snotlout on the floor to the steely eyes of Astrid. "your father still owns a pasta fast-food right?"

"He prefers the term of fast italian cuisine restaurant but yeah, he still owns it."

"Alright, he must be acquainted with some food providers and might also know some caterer. Can you ask him to reach for his contacts and see if they have any suspicious clients? Like someone that would buy prepared food for 800 everyday but refuses to be delivered, preferring to come get it himself. He might also pay in cash."

"Sure thing. He'll be more than happy to help you."

She exchanged a knowing smile with Fishlegs. His father always liked her since they were young and was grateful to Astrid that she helped Fishlegs in joining the ranks of the BCPD. And she is almost certain that Mr. Ingerman was rooting for the two of them to get together. But neither of them was interested.

"Ruffnut."

"Yeah?"

"Are you still in touch with that detective in Organized Crime?" The salacious smile on Ruffnut's face was more than enough of an answer. "I know that Organized Crime has a list of businesses with a suspicious balance that might be a front for gangs. Can you ask him if 6 months to a year ago there was a restaurant that suddenly became financially unbalanced but never showed any signs of gang related activities? It might be Night Fury's hideout."

"Sure thing."

She herself knew a few people in Organized Crime but she preferred to leave that to Ruffnut. She had a way to get information from people without them ever realizing it. She should know seeing as she often was the unfortunate prey of that talent. Meanwhile she would discuss with Stoick on how to access the client lists of food providers and caterers and looking for any fake businesses. She knew someone that owed her a favor at the FISC.

_Maybe we could pass it off as an inspection and... _

"Err, Astrid?"

She turned to face an hesitant Tuffnut shouldering a still suffering Snotlout.

"What?" she asked a bit more dryly that she intended.

Tuffnut was a bit taken aback by Astrid's dry tone but still asked the question that was burning him.

"Ain't we supposed to be working with Night Fury now? I thought he was helping us catch Helheim's Gate?"

"He is."

"So why are we going after him? I thought Helheim's Gate was a bigger threat. Especially after all that stuff at Cadmus Labs."

"Helheim's Gate is the priority, don't get me wrong. And we are working with Night Fury to stop them but that's no reason to not catch the bastard. We might as well arrest him, kick him in the nuts and make him tell us every detail he knows about Helheim's Gate."

Everyone present felt a slight chill running through their spine from Astrid's joyous tone. There was a moment of silence where no one dared to say anything before Tuffnut broke into a large grin.

"You're scary. I love it! So what are we waiting for?"

"Maybe you're waiting for me to finish my explanation?"

Everyone suddenly turned to him as they had all but forgotten about Hiccup. It was tempting to let them run into a false lead like that but there are more pressing matter.

"I think you're all getting a bit ahead of yourselves; I didn't get to finish explaining."

"Alright, finish your explanation but you better hurry. We have some work to do. We're finally getting closer to catching Night Fury."

Hiccup answered with a sly grin.

"That's the part I wanted to talk about. Fishlegs was right before, it is impossible for a human to eat that much."

Astrid said nothing as all her plans were crushed to dust.

"But you said that he needed 850 tacos 3 times a day!"

"No, I said that _if_ we were to assume that he replenishes his energy by eating that much food, he would need to consume 850 tacos 3 times a day. Moreover that's assuming that Night Fury's powers belonged to the category that are produced by his metabolism and I told you that I don't think that he belonged to that category either."

Astrid was getting fed up by all this enigmatic crap. She wanted a straight answer and she wanted it _now_.

"Cut to the chase. What are his powers?"

"I'm getting to it. But first let me show you why I don't think that his powers are generated by his metabolism."

Astrid not so discreetly let out a huff of exasperation. He manipulates a few things on his computer and changed what was on the screen to the parts that founded his hypothesis.

"Here is right next to each the exact two moments when he deactivates and activates his powers. What can you see?"

She would not have it for another minute.

"It isn't a damn lesson! Just tell us what to see."

Hiccup could feel that she was getting pretty mad and judged it safer to speed things up.

"When he activates and deactivates his powers, there is no latency, it is instantaneous and affects his entire body. If his metabolism is the source of his powers, it would be logical to assume that the part of his metabolism that is generating this energy would show signs of activation first."

They all silently nodded expect for Astrid that was staring the screen.

"But it isn't enough for it to be conclusive. As I said, the thermal image shows what I suppose is a side effect of his powers and not the powers themselves. The more telling parameters like the enthalpy or electric conductance are not precise enough to pinpoint parts of his body moreover it is possible for the scanners to not be fast enough to pick up the starting sequence of the activation of his powers. What really convinced me was the thermal scan. The interesting part there is that every part of his body is at the same temperature. If you compare to the scan of Astrid you can see there are fluctuations in her body heat. Some parts are hotter than others."

Snotlout snickered to himself.

"They sure are."

A vicious elbow, from Ruffnut this time, shut him up.

"In Astrid's scan it is due to the fact that not every part of her body is active and producing heat and energy. Some parts are just on the receiving end, waiting for other part of the body to provide them with heat and energy creating discrepancy in the thermal scans. Simply put the zones producing energy are hotter than the one just receiving it. In Night Fury's case it is as if every part of his body is active. The heat pattern is uniform in every part of his body and there is no part that is producing more heat than the others. If we were to assume that Night Fury's metabolism were to produce his own energy for his powers that would mean that every single part of his body is producing that energy. And they all produce the same amount and not one is producing more or less than the other. I found that extremely unlikely and another factor that I'll explain later proved me right."

He paused to see if anyone had questions but was only met with an expectant silence.

"My point is this: I don't think that Night Fury's powers comes from an unknown energy stocked in his body or that his metabolism allows him to produce enough energy to move that fast. I think that his metabolism is indeed different but not in the way we think it is. His metabolism allows him to access a new powerful energy that exists in a another dimension called the Speed Force and that the impact of that energy on his body allows him to move as fast as he does."

"An energy from another dimension?"

This was turning into Sci-fi real quick.

"Yes. I know that it sounds crazy but I'm just using the word dimension because I have no better word for it. Basically Night Fury is able to access to a source of energy completely new that no one else can access and he can access it anywhere in the world at any time. What that energy is is completely unknown but I don't think the fact that his thermal fact shows the exact same temperature for every part of his body is a sign that every part is generating energy but rather that every part of his body is receiving this energy, that his whole body is receiving the Speed Force. And I think that it not only allows him to move faster but also to vastly accelerate general functions of his body. He heals faster, he can fight sickness and poison faster and that kind of things."

"Wow! Is he like immortal?" Tuffnut seemed greatly enthused by this idea. "You can do so many more crazy things when you're immortal."

"No," Hiccup chuckled at Tuffnut's question, "he's not immortal, he's still human. A bullet in the head would kill him almost as certainly as anybody else. The only thing is that he would have seen the bullet coming from miles away and easily dodged it."

"But can he like totally bungee jump without a cord and be fine?"

Tuffnut always had the strangest questions. Maybe even stranger than Ruffnut but she is usually strange in a different way. In general Hiccup always found it somewhat easier to answer to Tuffnut's questions than Ruffnut's even if some were just plain stupid.

"No he wouldn't be fine. But if his head wasn't bashed out by the jump it's likely that he'll be able to make a speedy recovery on his own."

"What kind of speedy recovery are we talking exactly?"

This time it was Astrid that asked a question.

"Depends. If I were to say, I think that he can heal like humans but faster. He can't grow up a lost limb but he can easily repair a broken arm. As for how fast, I think it safe to assume that how many time faster he can heal is roughly the same equivalent as how much faster he can run."

As expected everyone was quite impressed. Already Hiccup could see the gears turning in their head to try to figure out how fast exactly it meant.

"So," tentatively tried Snotlout, "if he had a broken arm he could heal in what? A week?"

Hiccup took his time to consider the question. He hadn't broke his arm yet but came really close to it several times before when he was still trying to get a grasp of his power. At that time he broke his wrist and ankle but not his arm.

"I think that he can heal it in a matter of hours."

A low whistle came from Tuffnut.

"So cool! What I wouldn't do if I had that!"

And while Tuffnut was daydreaming of all the crazy stunts and pranks he could do if he could heal that fast, Hiccup continued his explanations.

"So I showed you that Night Fury's power came from the use of the Speed Force and its affinity with it. Potentially if someone else got in touch with the Speed Force he'll likely gained some ability but it would be slightly different. He might not be able to run as fast as Night Fury but he would be able to do something that Night Fury can't do. But that's not all I discovered by analyzing this footage."

"Because there's still more?" exclaimed Fishlegs. "What more could there be?"

Seemed like everyone was sharing that same thought except for Tuffnut who was still thinking of all he could do with a super-healing ability. Hiccup simply had a mysterious smile plastered on his face while he moved to his computer.

"Here is probably the most interesting thing I showed you so far."

He made a close up on Night Fury's mask just before he deactivated his powers as he stopped behind Astrid.

"This is one of the most precise thermal scans we have of Night Fury's powers, nearly the only frame we got when his powers are still active and he's not moving. What interested me the most was his mask."

They all stared at the screen but as far as they could tell there was nothing peculiar about it. It was in the same red glow as the rest of him.

"What's so interesting about it? It's just like the rest of him, I don't see any difference."

"That's exactly what's interesting about it. There is no difference with the rest of him and yet it is not part of his body. It is easier to see with his masks because of the fins but if you close up on other part of his clothes it is the same conclusion. His powers also act on his clothing."

Truth be told the thing that made him realized that wasn't a close up on his mask but the fact that his leg showed a thermal image. His freaking metal leg showed the same thermal readings, the same electric conductance as his other leg. That just blowed his mind. The implication behind it was enough to make his mind dizzy from all the consequences. His powers were transferable to objects! It also shades a lot of light on the past events and what Helheim's Gate was really after.

"Okay but what does it mean? His clothes heal fast too?"

Hiccup withdrew from his own thoughts to answer Ruffnut's question.

"No, nothing of the sort. It probably gave no peculiar properties to his clothes other than the fact that they can bear the extreme friction of his running and don't catch fire or get destroyed by wind pressure when he's running."

"So why is it so interesting?"

"Because it means that it is transferable."

Everyone turned to Fishlegs as he answered instead of Hiccup. Eyes-wide he had realized what Hiccup meant when he said that Night Fury's power also acts on his clothing. His mind was frantically running full-speed to catch up to the repercussions of it. He began to blabber as he was making the connections along the way.

"If his power is transferable that means that the Speed Force doesn't apply just for him and can also be given to something or someone else. Maybe even be stocked. Then if it really is limitless the amount of power it could generate would be enormous not to mention the implication for the society. And what if..."

He stopped as he suddenly realized something.

"Hiccup! Don't tell me that the tube in the lab is..."

Hiccup answered Fishlegs with a small node. Fishlegs gasped as his worst fear was confirmed, suddenly turning very white.

Astrid really didn't like not being in the loop, especially about anything involving Night Fury or Helheim's Gate.

"What? The tube is the lab is what?"

He looked at her, showing a very serious expression.

"The tube in the lab that we gave to Eret and his men was full of Speed Force."

Astrid just gave Hiccup an incredulous look.

_That was some SpeedForce?! How is that even possible? I thought only Night Fury could access it? _

Not wanting to even begin to ponder the implication behind Eret having some Speed Force, she pressed Hiccup for answers.

"How come they had some Speed Force?"

"I think they collected it when they ambushed Night Fury in the warehouse."

This time it was the rest of gang that pressed them for answers.

"What ambush?"

"The warehouse? The one where Night Fury killed a member of Helheim's Gate?"

"There's even more that we don't know?"

"What do you mean _they collected _it? Is that even possible?"

They all seemed to speak at the same time making it impossible to Hiccup to answer them all.

"Calm down, I wasn't finished. I was going to show it to you afterwards but, as a sign of good faith for collaborating with us, Night Fury gave us some footage of what happened at the warehouse. And before you ask us why we kept it secret," he added, seeing Ruffnut about to protest, "we had several good reasons to do so. The first one being that it was more than likely to be rejected by Stoick and second having to explain how we got our hands on it."

That seemed to calm them down a bit. But questions would have to be answered later.

"Now before I continue my explanations I'll give you the gist of what happened: Night Fury responded at the call for suspicious activities and ran to the warehouse. He noticed three men transporting suspicious crates and apprehended them but when he apprehended the last one, he triggered a claymore. He barely had time to duck for cover when it exploded, killing the man he apprehended. As soon as the claymore exploded, several men for Helheim's Gate came from the metal boxes we found and were stolen later by Eret. It seems they belonged to a division of Helheim's Gate called the Bloody Fist and were there to track down Night Fury. Injured, Night Fury managed to barely escaped them and gave us the footage he took. That footage is what put us on the lead of Eret and his crew. And this is what we think to be the tattoo of the Bloody Fist." finished Hiccup, launching on the screen the image of the tattoo of an fist red with blood on top of the ancient heavy gate characteristics of Helheim's Gate.

The four of them silently observed the tattoo, Fishlegs and Snotlout effectively remembering seeing part of it peeking from under Eret's v-neck shirt.

"Why didn't Eret have it on his arm like the others?" questioned Fishlegs.

"We don't know. Maybe not all members have the tattoo on their arms so we have to be wary of that. It's not because you can't see a tattoo on their arm that they aren't from Helheim's Gate."

"Wow! You guys really hid a lot from us." observed Tuffnut. "I'm kind of hurt."

"Yeah, me too" added Snotlout.

Ruffnut and Fishlegs said nothing but it was clear that they didn't think any less.

"Sorry guys but it wasn't exactly something that could be shared. "It's not that Astrid didn't understand at all how they felt but she still would have preferred them not knowing. "Just you knowing could put you all in a whole lot of problems if it ever were to be known. I couldn't just let you be in trouble like that."

Ruffnut snorted at Astrid's last sentence. She exchanged a meaningful look with her brother.

"You wanted to prevent _us _from getting in trouble. Don't you know us at all?"

"Yeah," argued Tuffnut, "When are we _not_ in trouble? I really thought that you knew us better."

"That's not what I... It's not that I don't trust you but..."

"It kind of seem like you don't." timidly added Fishlegs.

"You know what I meant Fishlegs."

"Yeah but still.."

Astrid was getting frustrated. She knew what they were saying but surely they could understand her choices.

"Look, it's just that..."

Ruffnut cut her short.

"Do you trust us Astrid?"

Ruffnut had blankly asked the question, for once completely serious.

"Of course I do!"

"Then it's settled! No more secrets." concluded Ruffnut.

Astrid threw an exasperated look at Ruffnut. Ruffnut simply gleamed in amusement, knowing full well that she had won this thing. Astrid looked at Hiccup for support who simply shrugged. Reluctantly she agreed to Ruffnut's demand.

"Fine! No more secrets."

Then they all looked at Hiccup, expecting him to do the same.

"No more secrets."

_Well, most of them. _

"Can I continue now?"

"Sure go ahead." answered a tired Astrid.

"As I was saying I think that they collected the Speed Force when they ambushed Night Fury at the warehouse. And to answer your question FIshlegs, I think they collected it thanks to the metal boxes we found. They weren't there just to protect the men from the blast but after a more careful analysis of those boxes I found that they were made of two layers of solid metal and in between was a gel like substance that I have yet to identify. My bet is that this gel was there to absorb the Speed Force that got caught by the external metal plate and they then changed it back into Speed Force thanks to the machine that we saw back at Cadmus Labs."

They all silently nodded at his explanation except for Fishlegs that still had a question.

"But where did the Speed Force they had stocked come from? Did Night Fury touch the boxes for them to have been in contact with the Speed Force?"

"Not exactly. It's also something I discovered when analyzing the footage. In the part when Night Fury left."

Suddenly Astrid realized what she had missed. She now knew why the sparks caught her attention and why the liquid in the tube at Cadmus Labs seemed so familiar.

"The sparks!"

Everybody looked at her as she had yelled her discovery.

"The sparks he left behind are of the same color as the liquid in the tube!" She looked at Hiccup who was smiling as he could guess the deduction she was making. "Don't tell me that those sparks are made of Speed Force?!"

Everyone went completely silent, awaiting Hiccup's answer.

"You're right. Those sparks are made of Speed Force. That's the last thing I wanted to show you. When Night Fury is leaving the scene, he left some sparks of Speed Force behind, if only for a moment. And it is likely that the boxes in the warehouse were there to capture those sparks and stock it in that gel like substance. That's why it was so important that Eret and his crew get those crates back from the BCPD."

"Wow! That's some crazy sh*t!" Tuffnut sounded quite proud of Helheim's Gate's work, one less informed might even say that he sounded jealous. "So they'll be able to have like powers like Night Fury?"

"No, not likely. Even if they could infuse it into someone to grant him abilities, they just don't have enough Speed Force. It is likely that said person wouldn't be able to use his or her powers for long."

Astrid let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. They might have avoided the worst case scenario.

_A bunch of super powered criminals is the last thing Berk needs. When you see the mess one vigilante can make, I don't even want to imagine what a bunch of criminals with powers like him would do. _

"But it's still some very bad news and they can still do some serious damage with it."

Snotlout snorted.

"How bad can he really be? They had like what? 15, 20 ounces of that stuff? What can they really do with it?"

"They might have even less. I think part of it was diluted into the gel used to stock it, making up for a larger quantity but less concentrated amount of Speed Force than the one escaping from Night Fury..."

"See? They can't do much with it. It's useless stuff. Why worry about it? Who cares if they got it?"

_Something tells me it's not that simple. _Astrid was right to be cautious about it.

"However that's still an incredibly powerful energy," continued Hiccup undisturbed by the interruption. "From the residue I managed to find on the crates and the machine left at the lab, I could make a rough estimation of how powerful it is."

Even Snotlout listened intensely to Hiccup, feeling that he might be way more serious than he wishfully thought.

"I estimate that the amount they took have enough energy in it to power Berk for the next 3 years and still have enough juice after that to work for a few months."

It wasn't just powerful, it was crazy powerful.

_How is that possible? Does that mean that Night Fury can produce more energy than a nuclear reactor?_ And that's just scraping the surface of the reserves he has access to.

Snotlout was the first one to recover from this shocking news.

"AND YOU WERE GOING TO SHOOT IT?!" He seemed to have completely lost it when Hiccup had announced how much power he had treated to blow up in the lab. "WHAT IF IT HAD EXPLODED?!"

"Calm down, Snotlout! I didn't right?" Hiccup really wish he tuned it down, not wanting attract some unwanted attention. "Besides I knew what I was doing. It wouldn't have blow up but dissipate in the air. Probably."

"PROBABLY?!"

"Shut up Snotlout!" Astrid hissed harshly, not wanting either to attract the attention. Even if the others forensics scientist weren't there (there was just one more and an intern), Gobber's office wasn't far from here. "Keep it down or I'll do it for you."

The threat was plain and simple and seemed to do the job. He still didn't shut up but he kept it low enough so that it couldn't be overheard.

"Probably?!"

"Look, I couldn't know for sure that it wouldn't have exploded. The Speed Force is still something that stays widely unknown and I keep learning about it everyday. Moreover I knew that Eret didn't really know what the stuff was but I'm sure he knew that it was far more valuable than his life. He wouldn't risk anything happening to it. That how I was sure it would work."

Snotlout grudgingly accepted the logic but was still far from convinced.

"And what if he didn't buy it?"

"I would have shot it." replied Hiccup with no hesitation.

Snotlout couldn't believe what his dumb cousin was saying.

"Astrid! You can't work with him! He's just crazy!"

Astrid sighed. She was beginning to know Hiccup well enough to know that he partly said that to piss off his cousin. But also partly because he would really have done so.

_Truly a very dangerous foe. Hard to say if he's insane or a genius. _

"Don't worry, he was right, he didn't have to shoot it." She then turned to Hiccup. "But it really was a dangerous plan. Did you know what was in the tube at the time?"

Hiccup took some time to consider before answering the question.

"I didn't know for sure but I had a really strong inkling. However it is true I didn't really know how potent and powerful it was."

"And if you had to do it again knowing what you know?"

Hiccup looked at her straight in the eyes and answered her with far more determination than she thought possible for a mere scientist spending his days as a recluse in his lab.

"Yes."

For a moment, nobody said a thing; Hiccup and Astrid both looking at each other, trying to measure each other's resolution. Astrid was the first one to break the eye contact. She then took a quick look at the time on the computer.

"Alright" she said, looking back at him. "Is there anything else you didn't tell us?"

"No, I think I said most of it. There may be some more details that might come back to me later but you got the gist of it. Now you know what Helheim's Gate is really after. They came here to get their hands on the Speed Force, the source of Night Fury's power. But after that I still have no idea what they want to do with it. And keep in mind that they have some serious resources and might know more about the Speed Force than us. They know about it and have some equipment that allows them to exploit it. That's not something that can be done in a few days. They might have been working on it for years."

You could feel the air immediately tense up as everyone began to ponder how bad the situation actually was. There were a lot of things that might still be hidden.

Astrid sensed that she was still missing some large part of the picture but at least she had an idea of what the picture looked like. And if she was honest with herself it wasn't looking good.

_One thing at time. Now that I know the rules, things will change. _

"We'll leave it at that for now. I think it's safe to say that we all have some thinking to do after all that new information. Some more than others." she said looking at Snotlout who seemed about to blow up with all the new revelations that kept on coming.

"I propose that we all go back home. It is quite late now and I'm getting really hungry."

One look at the clock showed them that it was indeed way past dinner time.

"So I think I'll go first. See you tomorrow!"

And before anyone could answer Astrid had already left the lab and was heading to her car. She still had loads of questions that kept on swirling in her mind but she knew that she couldn't process any more information before a good meal and a good night of sleep. Sleep might not come easy with all the spine-chilling possible implications of such a devastating force that was the Speed Force but it was still less scary than the thought of not knowing the real endgame of that deadly match with Helheim's Gate. She still didn't really know where to put Night Fury in the equation but she knew one thing for sure.

_The real game starts now and I don't intend to lose. _

On that silent promise, she headed home.

* * *

**I know that there are some difference in the Speed Force as I explained here and how it is presented in the TV show _The Flash _but I hope that you enjoyed reading it anyways. **


	16. Chapter 16 - Christmas

**Hiccup in a Flash - chap 16**

**Merry Christmas! And Happy New Year! I hope that you all had a good time during the holiday and I wish you my best wishes for 2016!  
**

**For this new year, this chapter is_ a bit special_. This chapter is A CHAPTER IN THE PAST, before what happened during the first chapter. This is something that I imagined a long time ago and didn't know when to introduce it. **

**So here it is for your eyes only the chapter on the legend of Astrid, the case that made her famous.**

**Enjoy!**

**\- Chapter 16: Christmas**

* * *

It was Christmas Day in Berk and as usual it was a white Christmas Day. It snowed for a week before, leaving a deep cushion of snow on the street. Most streets were clean of snow, years of practice of making a efficient clearing system as Berkians used that time to show off how fit they were. But the street Astrid was currently walking on wasn't cleared as she was in the lower side of town, in the the territory of the Berserkers. The people here kept to themselves and didn't dare to go out in the street unless they had a very good reason to do so. Especially this year. A rival gang, the Outcasts, lead by Alvin The Traitorous, had used the fact that several high members were reunited for Thanksgiving to strike a major blow to the Berserkers. Alvin himself has been seen on sight during the attack that killed 3 leaders and 15 members of the Berserkers. Another 32 were hospitalized and 6 were still in a coma. Among the leaders, the head of the Berserkers has been killed but rumors stated that his son, Dagur The Deranged, actually used the fact that everybody was escaping to kill his own father.

Ever since Dagur has lead the Berserkers it escalated into a bloody mess. The once quiet and low-profile gang became more and more virulent and daring in their actions, openly attacking people in broad daylight. An open tri-party war erupted between the Outcast, the Berserkers and the police. Normally, it would have been the job of the Organized Crime Unit to deal with the war but the situation escalated so quickly that Stoick requested every detective of the BCPD to lend a hand as much as they could to Organized Crime and were given cases related to the current war. Astrid and Snotlout had been assigned to investigate the murder of the restaurant owner whose building was located at the frontier between the Berserkers and the Outcast territories. Apparently he refused to pay up to the Berserkers seeing as the Outcasts had already taken most of his money and was executed for the example.

The scene had been terrible and the poor man never stood a chance. According to the forensic report, 13 men, probably lead by Dagur himself, came down to the shop when the restaurant was closing. They were armed but there was no sign of gun exchanges on the scene. The owner and the staff were attached to severals chairs and disposed of. The the staff were placed so that they were facing the terrified owner. Blood patterns suggested that the staff was first executed one by one with a bullet in the head from a 9mm gun with a silencer. Then the owner was tortured with an electrified blade, Dagur's favorite weapon, for half an hour before finally being put out of his misery from a crossbow shot. For Astrid there was very little doubt in her mind that Dagur was the one responsible for such a gruesome murder. He was the only one that found any amusement in using such an unusual weapon. Dagur The Deranged was known to enjoy using unconventional ways to kill people. Reportedly, he took pleasure in doing it himself, up close and personal.

Astrid had only disgust for people like Dagur and vowed to do everything in her power to put a stop to him. Her partner, Snotlout at the time, has been pretty much useless but she nonetheless managed to get her hands on 12 of the 13 persons allegedly present during the torture, and murder, of the restaurant owner. Dagur was the only one left and she was hot on his trail. In order to find the ones responsible for that gruesome murder she had contacted every informant she knew and pressed for information any source of knowledge and low life that she caught. She finally managed to obtain some intel about Dagur when she captured the last of the goons that assisted Dagur at the massacre. According to him Dagur was planning a visit to someone's house for Christmas and asked several men to accompany him there. They were supposed to meet him at 7pm today at the corner of 7th and Madison. She only had about 20 minutes to get there in time. No time to ask for support and backup. Cuffing the man to a nearby sign, she texted Snotlout where to find the culprit so that he could be processed at the Police Plaza.

Without further ado, she proceed to walk down the street that was connecting Madison avenue.

As usual, she arrested the goon without Snotlout's help seeing that he would have just slowed her down. He was way too headstrong to do any work necessitating any kind of finesse so she had followed the lead of the last goon and waited alone at the bar that he showed up. Once he left, she followed him and arrested him in a back alley. She could have just arrested him at the bar but she didn't want any commotion. She was in the middle of Berserkers' territory and she wanted to lay low for the moment. She was still quite unknown in this sector and preferred that it stayed that way for as long as fate would allow.

The night was cold and she walked a bit faster on the street. She didn't want to be late. Luckily it wasn't snowing yet but the news weather forecast announced snow for later in the evening.

Silently she was reviewing her possibilities. From what she learned it's likely that Dagur was meeting in a small committee but she couldn't be so sure as the goon hadn't known much. She will have to judge by herself and keep in mind to stay cautious. If Astrid was absolutely sure of one thing, it is that Dagur is an unpredictable bastard.

_For the moment I'll just follow him and see if I should back off and call for backup. With some luck I might learn some useful intel on Dagur's activities. _

She could already see the corner that the thug told her was the meeting point. As far as she could tell nobody was there yet. She promptly took one of the burner phone that she kept on her and improvised a small microphone by dropping it with the speakers behind a post at the corner. Once she made sure that she could hear the call on her ear set on her other phone, she entered a nearby Starbucks with view on the street. Luckily the shop was nearly empty and she could place herself at a strategic viewpoint without any trouble. Merely flashing her badge to the suspicious manager as she took an empty cup to act as if she was drinking. She would have loved a nice warm cup of coffee but she couldn't afford to miss anything.

As if hearing her, a black SUV stopped a few yards from the corner and several men came out of it. There was four of them, openly showing heavy weaponry, escorting a fifth man in a pristine black suit that was strangely decorated with an assortment of spikes on the collar and wrists. Astrid sharply inhaled sounding close to the hissing of a tiger.

There was no mistaking it. That peculiar suit, that large blade hanging at his waist, the large guns attached to his back, the wild mane of red hair, the scar on the right eyebrow, the tattoo on the left side of his face, the deranged look shining through his eyes. It was Dagur The Deranged, undisputed leader of the Berserkers.

Focusing intensely on her ear set, she watched the five men walk in the direction of the corner. Soon she could hear part of the conversation.

"... Mike should be gettin' here soon."

"Who?"

Astrid could feel the hair on her neck raise on their own. She could recognize that tone anywhere. She spent hours listening to any and every recording that they had ever obtained of Dagur, hoping to pick up something they might have missed. So far nothing but tonight things might finally change. She could feel in her bones that something big was gonna go down tonight.

"The newcomer from the last shooting." It seemed as though Dagur wasn't able to recall the man. "You said you liked him and to have him with you next time." Again a long silence. "From the shooting at Giovanni's?"

"Oh! I remember him now. He was shaking in his boots, all too scared to kill someone for the first time. It was so adorable too see him like that. It looked like he was almost more scared of the man he was supposed to shoot than he was of me! Well, almost."

He suddenly exploded in laughter.

"Oh! And his face when I made him shoot the waitress! He almost threw up when he saw the pieces of the brain on the wall. But the best part was when he turned white as a sheet when I began to empty the gut of that old pig who wouldn't pay up. He fought real hard to keep it in him. And no matter what I tried on that pig he couldn't look away! It really pushed me to try to be more creative." he let out a small sigh. "Ah! Good times!"

For a moment Dagur seemed contemplative, looking in the distant at some fond memories.

"Well, too bad I'll have to kill him. The guy is just not cut for that kind of work. So when did you say he would be here?"

The man shot a quick look at his watch before answering.

"He should arrive in two minutes."

"Two minutes?! I'm not waiting that long, I'll die of boredom. Let's go!"

He then began to walk down the street in the direction where Astrid was seating.

"W-What?! Sir, are you sure that we shouldn't wait..."

He shut up fast as Dagur gave him his infamous mad glare. Mad in every sense of the term.

"Are you questioning me?"

The calm tone of his voice sounded almost casual compared to the glare he was giving his man. But the threat behind it was obvious to anyone, even Berserkers. And the one who dare questioned him didn't miss it either.

Cautiously he tried to correct himself, knowing he was playing his life.

"N-No I wouldn't dare to question you! I-I simply was wondering if you are in such a hurry to get there, shouldn't we take the car?"

For a moment, nobody said a word. The air was tense, full of murderous intention. Until Dagur finally broke into a grin.

"You know I like you." The man didn't dare to move a muscle, not knowing if it was a good or a bad sign. "You're right, it would be better to take the car but I'm not in the mood. I'm feed up to be always close up somewhere. Moreover if ... that guy ... what's his name again? Mitch? Mulch?"

"Mike."

"Yeah, Mike! Well if we walk there instead of taking the car, Mike might see us and join us. See? Then I wouldn't need to wait for him anymore. Besides we chose that meeting point because it's not far from where we're going. Look, You can see it from here."

He pointed his fingers in the direction of Astrid, who casually turned her face and began to drink in her empty cup to look less suspicious as the 5 men looked in her direction.

"Of course sir! You're right. We better walk there."

"Good, glad you agree with me. You might not be totally irrecuperable after all. And don't call me 'sir'. My father was called 'sir' and I hated my father. I'm Dagur."

"As you wish Dagur."

The 4 men began to walk down the street along with Dagur and soon they move out of range of the improvised microphone. As they were approaching the Starbucks, Astrid get away from the windows and began to leave. They passed in front of the Starbucks without a second look and Astrid exited shortly after them. As they continued walking, Astrid walked in the opposite direction. She didn't want to spook them by immediately going in the same direction than them and decided to first to retrieve her burner she half-burried in the snow to hide it and ended the call.

Looking over her shoulder she saw that Dagur and his men had continued on their way down the street and were still in sight. However she wasn't in a hurry to follow them immediately as she has a pretty good idea of where they were going. The only quiet place for a meeting on this street was the building currently in construction two blocks down the street. Seeing as it was Christmas today, the workers were given the day off and it was a perfect place to meet someone. Or to kill someone. Considering Dagur it wasn't to ruled out both.

Once they were far enough, she began to walk after them. She could still spot them and her guess was right on the money. After they gave a quick look around at which point Astrid turned right on a nearby corner, Dagur and his men entered the construction site and disappeared inside. Quickly she ran after them where they disappeared. She feared that a man would have been left guarding the entrance but she found none and promptly entered after them.

A mistake like that wasn't like Dagur but she supposed as they were one man short, the young Mike was supposed to be the one guarding the entrance. As she looked around she saw them nowhere. It was more than likely that they must have moved inside the building. It was still under construction, ten floor tall with staircase visible on each side. She quickly approached the stairs and nearly bumped into the one guarding the entrance to the stairs. She was coming to fast on the corner and was too late to prevent being noticed.

The man was so surprised by her sudden appearance that for a second he didn't made a movement. That second was his first and last mistake as it was all Astrid needed. With two fast punches she promptly hit him into the throat and solar plexus, rendering him utterly speechless and barely able to whistle a sound. Then, knowing she had to finish him quickly or he might began to shoot and alarmed the others, she kicked him with a low kick in the nerve of the muscle of his calf, effectively forcing him to fall on one knee while holding his throat. Using this opportunity, she placed her right foot on the knee that wasn't on the floor and with a swift movement delivered a powerful middle kick with her left knee to his face. He didn't stand a chance, his guard down as he was still holding his throat, he was out cold before he even touched the floor. The confrontation didn't even last 10 seconds and was over in near complete silence, catching him as he fell.

She waited a moment but nothing, not a sound could be heard. Apparently nobody noticed the fight and there won't be dozens of furious gangsters charging her way.

Carefully she dragged him behind nearby cements bags and took away his weapons. She left the assault rifle after disassembling it and throwing away the firing pin. It was too much inconvenient for her, and only took his 9mm and his clips. She hoped she won't need as they looked in dubious state but better safe than sorry. And it might later be useful to identify who Dagur was meeting with because that guy she just knocked out clearly wasn't one of Dagur's. His men were clean looking and dressed in black suits with apparent heavy weaponry. The man at her feet was dressed in a red jacket with a black hoody and a blue jean, and hasn't shaved for a few weeks. He was dressed to go unnoticed in the neighborhood and his weapons could hidden in his jacket. Not something a Berserker would do as they were know to always show off their weapons. At least since Dagur took over.

Astrid looked around her for more unexpected surprise before slowly climbing the stairs. Disabling the guard cost her some precious time and now she had no idea which floor Dagur and his men went. She began to climb the stairs four by four, stopping a moment at each floor to listen to any suspicious sounds or any hint that might tell her which floor Dagur went. She was about go back to examine more carefully each floor when she finally found the hint she was looking for at the 9th floor.

It must have been a member of the same group that the guard at the bottom of the stairs seeing as he was dressed in a nearly identical way except he was wearing a green jacket. Judging by the wounds, he's been killed by surprise with a large knife. He died in a matter of seconds. She heard some angry shouting further away into the floor as she was examining the body.

Astrid cautiously advanced in the direction of the shouting match, trying to stay invisible as much as possible which wasn't easy considering the large spaces without separation, leaving few walls to hide behind.

Nonetheless she managed to get close enough to have a direct line of sight on the group that was arguing. Dagur and his four men was surrounded by a dozen of men, all armed and dressed with black hoodies nearly identically to the two men she meet in the stairs. They looked royally pissed while Dagur was impassibly playing with his bloody knife almost bored. Dagur's men weren't quite in the same mood and were tightly gripping their weapons, looking tense as the situation was about to go out of control at any moment.

Suddenly one of the men with hoodies decided it was time to make a move. He began to advance toward Dagur, a knife in his hand. Dagur's men noticed him immediately and took tight position around him, prepared for the inevitable bloody fight to come. The man with the knife didn't make two steps when a loud voice erupted.

"STOP!"

Everyone stopped moving. Another man that Astrid didn't noticed before appeared from behind the shadow and quickly walked to the one with a knife, lowering his arm.

"There'll be no fight during this meeting! We gave our word and we always respect our engagements! Is it clear?!"

He glared each of the men with hoodies present. They each lowered their eyes and put their weapons away. Only the one that seemed set to kill Dagur didn't made a move.

"Boss! He killed Tim! And for no reason! I was there, I saw it! He just killed him like a dog."

"Put that thing away."

"But boss..."

"I said: put it away."

Reluctantly he put away his knife but kept glaring Dagur who was still bored out of his mind, mindlessly playing with his large knife, sending large drops of blood everywhere. Once he finally got his men under control, it was the boss turn to glare at Dagur as he turned to face him.

"Besides I'm sure that the head of the respectable Berserkers didn't kill one of my men without a good reason."

Dagur finally interested himself in what was going around him and stopped playing with his knife, putting it away before facing the boss of the men he came to meet. Not before rapidly swinging it in the empty space to get rid of the blood. Incidentally some of the blood landed on the shoes of the one that put away his knife. And as one would expect, it made every men with a hoodie grind their teeth, making the air almost unbearable in tension. The boss of the men with hoodies showed no exterior sign of anger, simply blinked. Dagur payed no mind to the rising tension and began to speak in an even voice.

"Of course I didn't kill him for no reason. Who do you take me for? An insane person?" A dangerous light glinted in Dagur's eye. "As to why I killed him it's simple: he spoke of my father and I didn't like it."

The one previously holding a knife lost his last thread of patience as he exploded in anger.

"WHAT?! He talked about your father?! He presented you his condolences!"

Dagur faced him, effectively noticing him for the first time.

"As I said I didn't like it." Deeming that his explanation was enough, he ignored him again.

Clearly that explanation wasn't enough for him as the man was about to charge him again when his boss stopped him, placing a hand on his chest. The boss of the men with hoodies glared at him, effectively calming down, at least enough so that he backed off. But that didn't stop him to look at Dagur with murder in his eyes.

Dagur couldn't care less as he simply turned his gaze at the boss in front of him.

"That's too bad because I liked your father. But as I said the Black Hood always respect their agreements and we agreed to a peaceful meeting." He threw a meaningful look to each of his men who looked down and had a particularly long look to the man ready to murder Dagur.

_The Black Hood! What does Dagur wants with them? _

Astrid wasn't expecting Dagur to meet with the most notorious armed-robbers gang of Berk. The Black Hood was a gang of highly efficient and brutal robbers who were well organized and never one to shy away to murder. They also sometimes moonlighted as hit men but only as a favor to those they were indebted to. Their numbers were reduced, always 15, so to not pose any threat to other majors gangs but they were respected by all the major players as a force to count on.

If the Black Hood were to ally themselves to Dagur that could mean some very bad news for the current stalemate of the gang war.

"You did agreed. Shall we proceed to the reason of this meeting?" Gleefully added Dagur.

Dagur was completely impervious to the tense atmosphere he created and nonchalantly walked to one of the two chairs present. After a slight hesitation, his men followed him and placed themselves behind Dagur. The boss of the Black Hood walked to the other chair, facing Dagur's he waited for his men to place themselves behind him. Only the one with the knife didn't move from where he was standing, glaring Dagur with all the hate he was capable of.

"Jack."

The boss of the Black Hood didn't have to say more for the reluctant Jack finally moved for his spot to behind his boss.

"So what do you want Dagur?"

"Straight to business. I like that." He flashed his insane grin to the boss of the Black Hood who stayed imperturbable. "I supposed you're aware of the slight feud we currently have with Alvin and the Outcasts."

"I heard they made quite an entrance at one of your Thanksgiving's celebration."

Dagur seemed slightly annoyed at the evocation of that bloody stain on the Berserkers' honor.

"Yes, exactly. Truth be told, I'm not really mad at them for it. It's part of the game and the people they killed were morons, glad they're dead. I'm almost thankful to Alvin. I was bored out of my mind at the time and stopped I'll have to suffer another one of my father's long speech when he came. He provided us with quite the entertainment."

The boss of the Black Hood frowned at Dagur's nonchalance.

"Your father, Oswald The Agreeable, died during this attack. I failed to see the entertaining part."

"Yes, yes I know. Most don't understand. But you've got to have been there when he died to truly understand and fully enjoy it." Dagur's gaze lost itself in the distant while a small smile tucked on his lips. "Well enough of that and let's get into the spirit of Christmas and return the favor to the Outcasts."

The frown of the boss went even deeper.

"What do you mean by _returning the favor_? You do know that we stay neutral on this war. We don't wish to play any part in it."

"But I also know that you owed a huge favor to my father." Dagur grinned. "And I'm here to collect. It seems only fair that you help get revenge for his death. Moreover, if I remember correctly, the Black Hood always pay their debts."

Nearly all members of the Black Hood emitted a small growl. It's true that they were indebted to Oswald The Agreeable when he helped them get rid of a particularly vicious competitor that almost exterminated them but they didn't like the fact that Dagur was the one to collect. Even less if it means getting involved in the current war with the Outcasts.

The leader of the Black Hood didn't seemed to like it either.

"What kind of favor are you asking exactly? We can't join your rank in this the war. We are first and foremost independent and we won't put ourselves under your orders."

"Of course! I won't ask that of you, I do know how much you value your _independence_. I wouldn't do anything do jeopardize that. I was thinking of using the service you sometimes provides for those you owed and employ you as hit men. I have a hit that I want to be taken care of."

Most of them relaxed upon hearing that, Dagur was known for being, well, deranged. They feared they had to face an impossible demand that they would have to refuse and it wouldn't be good for them to be on Dagur's bad side. The Berserkers has many members and, if the Berserkers didn't possessed much competent man power like the Outcasts, they definitely possessed more members than all the other gangs in Berk. So much members that the core force of the Berserkers was called the Armada. And the Black Hood with its mere 15 members would be no match for the Armada.

But if they could repair their debt to Oswald The Agreeable with a single hit, it wouldn't be such a bad deal. However the boss of the Black Hood doubted that it was that simple.

"Where's the catch? The current Berserkers doesn't seem to mind to do their dirty work themselves anymore. Why would you need us for a hit you could do yourself?"

Dagur looked like a predator as he made a smile that would make a shark jealous.

"I really do like you. You're so much more perceptive than the morons that I usually deal with. Ah! What I wouldn't give for competent men like you! Well maybe if I stopped killing them..." It was clear why he was called Dagur The Deranged. "Anyway, you're right to ask why we won't do it ourselves. The thing is, ever since that war with the Outcasts began, they are able to spot my men coming from miles away and it's really irritating."

"So I suppose that the hit is in Outcast's territory."

"Right again. You see Alvin has been so kind to provide the animation for our small party I thought it would be only fair to provide the gifts to _his _Christmas party." Surprisingly, his tone wasn't loaded with any hatred or anger. He spoke with a glee that usually reserved to a child speaking of going to a party with Santa Claus. He sounded joyful at the idea of providing gifts for Christmas as the glint in eyes betrayed his intention for the kind of gift he wanted to provide, madness burning up and high.

"You want us to attack Alvin?! How is it not joining you in the war with the Outcasts? After that there is no way that we could stand neutral. We'll be hunted down by the Outcasts!"

If the Black Hood didn't want to face the Armada, the Outcast wasn't an enemy to take lightly either. Even if they weren't as numerous as the Armada, their members weren't to trifle with. After all the Outcasts reached a stalemate with the Berserkers, neither of them successfully having the upper hand upon the other. The main difference between them was that the average Outcast was more experienced than the average Berserker and Alvin preferred dubious and underhanded strategies, very different to the confrontational strategy preferred by Dagur and the Berserkers.

"The target is not Alvin. And you'll be hunted down by the Outcasts only if they know it was you who did it. But if no one is left to tell the tale, everyone would know for sure it was the Berserkers who did it. We have a fool-proof plan but we don't the people who can go unnoticed in Outcasts territories."

The silence was tense as members of the Black Hood were pondering on Dagur's proposal. If they managed to do the hit without anyone knowing they were the perpetrators they could get rid of an annoying debt to the Berserkers and Dagur and even gain a favor from the gang that would be in the strong position after the hit. Everyone would think for sure that it was the Berserkers who did it and won't suspect the neutral Black Hood. But if even one Outcast manages to get away or they got find out, it could be the end of the Black Hood.

"Who would be the target?"

"Some captains of the Berserkers and Alvin's second, Savage. They having a celebration between elites in secret. Alvin isn't invited as he forbade those gathering to avoid being an easy target. A few captains planned this little party anyway, thinking that Alvin was just being paranoid and that there was no way we would know about it."

"But you do know about it." This was not a question or a comment, merely a statement.

"Let's just say there was a surprise client when we visited a restaurant to teach a lesson to a certain owner recently. One of the Outcast captain was present to collect the protection money. Little did he knew that he was the one needing protection."

Dagur shared a small chuckle with his men who forced themselves to laugh at their boss's joke.

The head of the Black Hood was currently thinking; he didn't like Dagur's offer at all but it sure had its advantages. A clean job would let them stay independent and Dagur would owe them a favor. Moreover the Black Hood had a debt to pay to the Berserkers. But it was owed to Oswald The Agreeable and rumors were saying that it was Dagur who killed his father and not the Outcasts. To make thing worst they had to keep the whole thing under tight wraps or it would be the end of them.

He could refuse the hit, claiming they hold a favor to Oswald The Agreeable and only him. It was a tempting solution but he feared that Dagur would make them pay. He has this insane look truly fitting his title of the Deranged. He was the worst kind of deranged: the kind that found the most insane pleasure in blood and violence but still capable of making coldblooded decisions. If he refused Dagur's request it is more likely than not that he send the Armada after them.

He let out a small sigh. He didn't really have much of a choice.

"We agreed to your request but we'll need a compensation suited to the job."

Dagur evaluated the man for a moment before breaking into smile.

"Of course. I wouldn't have it otherwise. I made sure that you got a appropriate compensation if you succeed."

"And another compensation for the man you killed."

Dagur grimaced at that demand.

"Really? I don't see the point in that. He should have just shut the f*ck up. He got what was coming to him."

The temperature in the room dropped of a few degrees. A few of the Black Hood tightened their grip on their weapons and the Berserkers behind Dagur began to shift on their feet uncomfortably.

"A compensation or there is no deal."

The boss of the Black Hood knew that he was taking a huge risk by going against Dagur like that but he couldn't let one of his men be killed on a whim by a lunatic and just drop it. The Black Hood was tied by principles and not holding them could cost him the trust of his men.

For a long moment nobody dared to breath as Dagur and the head of the Black Hood were glaring each other, neither of them wanting to back down from their position. Finally Dagur conceded.

"Alright, if you insist, I'll compensate you for your man. I don't have the time to be petty."

The boss of the Black Hood took a moment to observe Dagur. He really didn't like him but he didn't really have a choice in the matter. He just hoped that after that he could stay away from him.

"Now that we are on the same page, what are the specifics?"

"Yes, so the celebration is in 2 hours and..."

"2 hours? Isn't that too short too plan anything?"

"It's on short notice, I didn't get all the information I needed until recently, but I already got the whole thing planned out and tonight is the only opportunity we got. I just need you and your men. You need to go to..."

Astrid didn't plan for the meeting to take this long. She thought that Dagur would simply make an exchange and have it all wrapped in under 5 minutes and then she might be able to gather some information on Dagur while following him and his men on his way back. She didn't expected Dagur to kill one of the Black Hood, creating a tense situation where they were on each other throats, wasting some precious time. Then followed a long negotiation between Dagur and the Black Hood. All in all it's been nearly half an hour since she put to sleep the guard at the entrance. More than enough time for him to wake up and barge into the meeting, taking Astrid completely by surprise.

"Boss! Boss! We got an intruder, a crazy chick, she might be one of Dagur's..."

He arrived out of breath at the corner of a wall, a clear view on Astrid. Both of them looked at each other, not moving a muscle. Then the guard charged Astrid, keeping his guard resolutely up this time.

_Guess he learned his lesson... _

Seeing as she was discovered there was no use in being discreet. She quickly pull out her gun and put two bullets in his chest. Then she came out of her corner and yelled:

"Police! Hands in the air!"

As she expected a deluge of bullet began to fall in her direction. She promptly went back behind the wall and move to the other extremity, walking over the body of the guard. Without waiting a moment she took out her phone and used the loud screaming to hide her call.

"WHAT'S THE HELL?! WHERE YOU FOLLOWED?!"

"NO! No one knew I was here! She must have followed YOU!"

"She came from YOUR direction!"

"911. What's your emergency?"

"This is detective Hofferson, badge number 8792. I need immediate backup at the construction site on Madison Avenue, near 9th Street. I'm currently exchanging fire with Dagur, four of his men and the gang of the Black Hood so they better come real fast!"

"Roger."

She quickly put her phone back in her pocket as the shooting stopped when one yelled:

"STOP SHOOTING! We're going nowhere like that! Jack, go check if she's still alive. Marc, Jim, cover him."

_Well I guess I'll play hide and seek while reinforcement are coming. _

"I trust I can leave it to you. Me and my men we'll take our leave now. I leave you the details here."

_No! No way I'm letting Dagur go! _

Astrid pop out of her corner and took aim. Unfortunately, now that she had move position, Dagur was no longer in her line of sight.

_Sh*t! Guess I'll first reduce the number of opponents._

She opened fire and kill two of the men walking to her previous position and injured the third in the arm. Then she quickly drew back behind the wall as a rain of bullet went her way.

_Dagur is getting away! I might be able to cut his path by going the long way around. _

Without caring for the Black Hood members she left behind, she began to sprint to the stairway. She stopped a second to take a look at the plan. Judging from the direction Dagur was going, there was only one staircase possible.

_If I could reach the first floor fast enough..._

Leaving no time to dwell on her decision she began to ran her way done the stairs, nearly falling over twice. She jumped the last flight of stairs half-way through and began to ran across the construction site to reach the other staircase. She saw no one there meaning either Dagur already passed or he was still in the stairs. She stopped to listen for noise in the stairs. She could hear several men coming down the stairs yelling orders but she couldn't tell if it was Dagur or the Black Hood.

Cursing in her breath she moved to the entrance by which Dagur entered earlier. As she came out of the building she noticed Dagur and his men, weapons in hand, walking hurriedly towards the exit. Two of them were turned in her direction and took aim. Without slowing down she took out her own gun and fired while running to cover behind some cements bags.

Bullets flied way too close to her head to her taste but as she dove for cover she knew that she managed to hit at least one of them. She just hoped it was Dagur. Hidden behind the cements bags, she got covered in white cement powder as bullets came crashing on her hiding spot. She calmly reload her gun and made a quick inventory of her current weaponry. The 9mm she took to the guard with 3 clips, her own weapons with 2 clips and a large knife with a pair of handcuffs and a flashlight.

_It might be tough if the backup doesn't arrive fast. _

The bullets came to a stop as Dagur's men were reloading their weapons. She used that moment to get a sneak peek at them.

As she thought, she had hit one of them but it wasn't Dagur. One of Dagur's men was laying on the ground in a small pool of blood. The rest of them have followed Dagur and were running toward the exit while reloading.

"By Thor's balls! I won't let you get away!"

A bullet grazed her tight as she was jumping above the cements bags. If she hadn't suddenly move, it would have been straight into her chest. The Black Hood had caught to her and were opening fire at her. She quickly took cover on the other side of the cement bags and took one last look as Dagur and his men disappeared behind the door of the construction site while firing a last volley of bullet blindly behind their back. They all missed quite largely but had the effect desired: Dagur got away and Astrid couldn't no longer caught up to him.

But Astrid didn't have a moment to spare to preoccupy herself with that as her situation just went to bad to worse. She now had a dozen of angry men shooting at her and soon soon they'll surround her from every side. She could try to shoot her way out like Dagur did but she wouldn't be able to do three steps before she receives a bullet in the back. And she couldn't stay hidden behind that stack of cement that was leaving her completely exposed on the sides. So she ran the only way she could.

She went to the right to go around the building, away from the exit, hoping to find another exit in the back. Bullets were flying around her and orders were yelled as they took chase after her. Twice she stopped and turned over to fire to her pursuers. Her hit and run tactic managed to reduce their numbers from 11 to 8 with 2 being dead and one who ended up with a exploded knee.

She resumed her frantic run for an exit as she once again reload her gun. She had only one clip left before she had to change to the 9mm of the guard. With a small look behind her shoulder, she realized than she'll need to change strategy and fast. The graze at her tight may be small but it was deep enough to slow her down just enough to let the Black Hood caught up to her. She won't have time to search for an exit before they reached her.

With a final sprint she run back into the building. Another bullet graze a bit more deeply her left shoulder, spreading some small red stains on the white wall besides her. She stopped a short instant to look at what was around. The sun was setting fast and the luminosity was falling rapidly. It might play in her favor.

_There! Stairs!_

Astrid hurried her way up the stairs frantically looking around for anything she could use. A cover, a protection, a piece of metal, anything! As she reached the third floor, it began to be more and more urgent to find something as she could hear that the Black Hood was climbing the stairs after her, her leg really not helping. The building was now quite dark with very little visibility, forcing Astrid to turn on her flashlight. Finally as she arrived out of breath at the fifth floor, she found what could be either be her salvation or her doom.

The sounds of steps coming her way reminded her that she had very little time if she wanted her plan to work. She turned off her flashlight and ran as fast as she could to the part of the wall of a corridor still in construction that she spotted and urgently positioned everything. The corridor was shaped in a T as one side had two openings leading to the open space Astrid was coming from and the other side of the T was going deeper into the building, dividing the space in two large reunions room. As soon as she finished to took position behind one of the opening, the Black Hood emerged from the staircase. Her window of opportunity will be very short.

As the first member of the Black Hood was about to climb the next flight of stairs she opened fire while turning on her flashlight, blinding them effectively. She put two bullets on the first one: one in the leg, on in the brains. The second one try to duck to cover but received a bullet in the chest. The following ones were more careful and shot a cover fire with just their weapons coming out of the floor. But Astrid anticipated it and hide herself behind the wall.

She waited for the return fire to end. The Black Hood wasn't so stupid as to waste their bullets by firing blindly and soon stopped. Two of the bravest one began to slowly crawl up the stairs, avoiding the body of their comrades. They were welcomed by Astrid's own return fire. However she didn't touch any of them but it didn't matter as only the next part of the plan did.

When suddenly...

Click! Click! Click!

Astrid let out a large swear.

"F*ck!"

The Black Hood knew how to recognize a opportunity when they ever saw one. They quickly climbed the stairs and moved forward knowing they would only have seconds before Astrid either reloads or runs away again.

As they came down into the open space they were relieved to not meet more bullets and could see Astrid's lamp still turned where she was reloading her gun. Before it was too late they charged into the opening of the corridor and fired at will in the general direction of the flashlight.

That's when everything went to hell.

They didn't shoot at Astrid reloading while holding her flashlight but to a small gas tank of a wielding station on top of which Astrid put on her flashlight. Astrid had already disappear at the corner of the corridor, running her mind out to escape the cannonball effect that the explosion would unmistakably create in the corridor.

As she heard the Black Hood firing she knew would only have seconds before the whole corridor would be turned into a ball of flame, propelling her through the corridor to splash in a burned stain on the opposing wall. Pulling in her last strength she jumped through the door of one of the adjacent reunion room before falling violently on the floor. And for a terribly long second nothing happened as shoots were still being fired but no explosion.

_Damn! Don't tell me it was empty! _

Just as she thought that she heard the explosion. It made the floor and walls shake as if the whole building was collapsing as a wall of flames passed in front of the door. The sound of the explosion itself was deafening, making Astrid half-deaf in the left ear for the next 3 hours. Cracks appeared on the walls of the corner next to the explosion and on the ceiling but fortunately neither of them fell on Astrid. The corridor as played his proper role of containing the explosion like a cannon, the violence of the explosion being vastly directed toward the vacant space of the corridor.

For several seconds after the explosion, Astrid didn't moved from her spot, her ears still ringing from the detonation. Half a minute later, she finally began to move as she clumsily tried to stand up. The exhaustion of all that running coupled to the effect the explosion had on her inner ear made standing quite a challenge.

After a few tentative steps she made it out through the door and contemplated the scene in front of her. The once white walls were blackened by the explosion and large cracks were visible around the area where the gaz tank stood. As a lack of combustible, no flame were left behind and small parts of the floor has been blown away but considering the size of the explosion, the building has hold on good. She didn't come closer to see what was left of the Black Hood but she supposed it wasn't something she really wanted to see.

As she was still replaying the explosion in her mind, she heard the sirens of the police coming her way.

_Finally, the cavalry is here. A bit late for the battle, but what's new? _

Astrid was still amazed she managed to get out of it with so little injuries. A graze to her right leg, a small wound to her left shoulder and some scrapings from when she dove to the floor. It was nothing a few days won't heal which was quite a miracle considering the number of opponents. Astrid began to calculate exactly how of them there was.

_I counted 15 members of the Black Hood and 5 Berserkers including Dagur. Dagur killed a guard, I killed the other. Then I killed two member of the Black Hood and hit a third in the arm. I also killed one of the Berserkers accompanying Dagur when he ran away. Then I killed two members of the Black Hood who followed me and injured a third one in the knee. Then I killed two again when I ambushed them. Meaning the 6 left must have been caught in the explosion. Or 5 if the one injured in the arm followed them or not. _

Astrid took a moment to think back the different element of the day. She wasn't how she imagined her day would be going. What was at first a simple tentative to find more information on Dagur turned out to be a major face off with one of the most notorious armed-robbers slash hit men of Berk. And she killed so many men in just one day. She knew that being in the police meant she might have to kill people and she intensely trained to accurately shoot people but she still couldn't get used to it. Sure she killed once before and make no mistake, if she had to do it again she would do it. Those were men who deserved it and have killed more than one before, that's why she never hesitated in the slightest to pull the trigger.

But she just killed 16 persons and it was almost scary how easy it has been. There was something disturbing on how she could kill more people in a day than some serial killer would in a lifetime, and still be okay with it. She knew that she would wake up the next day and continue on her day as usual, as if nothing happened.

She silently shook her head. Now wasn't the time for some self-questioning. First she had a big mess to clean up and Dagur to catch. As she turned to leave in the other direction she found herself face to face two men coming from the opposite end of the corridor. They were both from the Black Hood, one of them with a bloody rag attach to his arm and were pointing their gun at her. Half-deaf as she was by the explosion, she didn't heard them coming at all.

Instincts kicked in and she dove into the doorframe of the reunion room as she's done minutes ago to protect herself from the explosion. Again she scraped herself on the floor but quickly stood up as bullets passed right where Astrid stood not a second ago. Quickly, she took position near the door and waited for the next round of bullets.

As they stopped shooting, she moved from her position to fire back with the 9mm of the guard, her own gun being completely empty.

CLANG!

"Son of a pustular whore troll!"

The gun of the guard was jammed. Not wasting a moment, she pulled back into her hiding spot by the door.

"Pest be of those who doesn't take care of their own gun!"

The members of the Black Hood waited a moment as they took cover but seeing that Astrid hadn't shoot back yet, comprehension lit their eyes.

"You don't have any weapon left." It wasn't a question, merely a statement.

Astrid recognized the voice as being the leader of the Black Hood.

_Sh*t! He wasn't dead yet. But how did he survive? How did they survive?_

"Give up! You have nowhere to go."

Astrid risked a quick look. The leader of the Black Hood was standing in the middle of the corridor, a man on each side. She recognized the one at the right as being the one so upset by Dagur killing one of the guard. If she remembered right, he was called Jack. It was him that Astrid injured in the arm.

"Come out of your hiding spot b*tch!"

Speaking of the wolf, it was Jack who just insulted Astrid, hate dripping from his voice.

As much as it cost her to admit, they were right: she was out of weapon. She didn't have any bullet left for her own weapon and the gun of the guard was jammed. She still got the 3 clips that the guard had but it wasn't compatible with her own gun. The only thing she had left was her knife and her handcuffs. She wouldn't go far with that. She might kill one man with the knife but afterward that was it.

"Surrender! You're the ones who got nowhere to go! This building is currently surrounded by the police. It's over for you!" She tried to keep her voice as calm and confident as possible, not wanting for it to betrayed her fear.

"You're right, it's over for us. We have no way to escape. But you neither do you and the least I can do is get revenge for all my men that you killed."

Astrid was surprised by the calm tone of the leader. As if he already made peace with the fact that it was over for him. Or did he already thought it was over from the moment Dagur came to ask his request. Either way it didn't bode well for Astrid's survival chances.

"But I have to hand it to you, I didn't think you could killed that much of my men. What did you use to make such an explosion? It couldn't be grenades, I felt it all the way till the stairs."

_He felt it_ _'_all the way till_ the stairs'? What does he... _

Suddenly Astrid understood how those three had survived. They were nowhere near the explosion, they used the same plan as her as she tried to cut off Dagur's exit. When she climbed the stairs, they divided in two groups. Their group ran to the other stairs to block off her exit if she had managed to loose her pursuers through the floor and try to escape by the other stairs. When they heard the explosion, they ran all the way up to see what happened.

_Sh*t! It's so obvious now. __I should have thought of that and came down the stairs I climbed up with! _

"So? What was it?"

The boss of the Black Hood was honestly curious and she found no reason to not tell him. After all she couldn't do much anymore except buy time.

"A gaz tank left by the wielders."

"Wow! I completely forgot about those! It was- It was actually a brilliant idea. Too bad I have to kill you now. Any last wish?"

"Letting me go?"

"I'm afraid I can't do that." The most surprising thing was that he sounded almost sincerely sorry about it.

"It was worth a try." She couldn't really hold it against him, she didn't expect any other answer. She tightly hold her knife; she wouldn't go without a fight. And what fight it's been.

"But for all it's worth: Merry Christmas."

Astrid couldn't hold on a cynical snicker. What a way to celebrate Christmas! The only one who might have enjoy it would be John McClane.

_And I'm not even sure he would have like it! After all the bad guy got away. _

The fact that she let Dagur escaped left a very bad taste in her mouth. But if she was to spend Christmas in the McClane tradition, she might as well do it all the way till the end.

"Merry Christmas, mother f*cker!"

She jumped out of cover, rolled on the floor and rose on one knee, her throwing arm ready to throw her knife 3 inches deep in the throat at the boss of the Black Hood. She wasn't really expecting to live long after that or even succeed in doing so but what she didn't expected for sure was what she saw as she was about to throw her knife.

A 6 feet tall man was standing in front of her, dressed in casual dressing with a brown pant, black shoes and one of those ridiculous red Christmas knitted pull-over with blue and white reindeers that everyone received at least once for Christmas. A blue scarf was hiding most of his face as well as a red hat with a small red pompom on top of it. He was standing in the dark but small strange purple sparks were dying all around him. One of them light up near his eyes, revealing the deep green of his hard eyes, holding an indescribable expression of fury.

Astrid froze on the spot, not knowing what to do or say. She was prepared to die seconds ago and when she was about to face her demise at the hand of ruthless killers, those killers were knocked out cold on the floor and instead this strange man was silently standing where they stood, murder in his eyes. What one was supposed to do? Who was it? And where does those sparks come from?

For a long moment, nobody moved or said a thing, each looking in each other eyes. Astrid's mind was running wild with thousands of questions fighting to be asked first while this stranger stood still, his expression indecipherable as the sparks died, cutting off the only source of light to his face. As she was about to ask him her first question,her partner, Snotlout, was heard calling for her coming from the stairs. And before she could blink the stranger literally disappeared under her eyes, leaving nothing behind him.

* * *

After that mess with the Black Hood was cleaned up, Astrid was congratulated for the successful capture of the most notorious armed-robbers of Berk. Sure only 4 of the 15 members were left alive but considering the life-or-death circumstances, she was excused for killing so much of them. And she did manage to capture boss of the Black Hood alive. Thanks to that, they managed to get enough information on both the Berserkers and the Outcasts to put a stop to that war between them. Or at least to make them back off of each other back as they would need to concentrate on restoring their own businesses. At least until the next all-out war.

When Astrid tried to explain that she wasn't the one that put down the last 3 Black Hood members, her explanation of the mysterious men was dismissed as a hallucination due to exhaustion and stress. Astrid didn't buy it but still complied to the psychic evaluations with the BCPD's psychologist required of her for a month. She soon got her suspicions confirmed when a few weeks later, rumors were going on in the BCPD about a mysterious man dressed in black, capable of impossible feats, helping helpless cops. She vowed that one day she would catch him.

But the end of the war between the Outcasts and the Berserkers wasn't the only positive aspect that came out from those events. Astrid now earned a solid reputation in the BCPD and began to be considered as a legend. Her actions afterwards confirmed that she was indeed the best detective of the BCPD. But she also began to be known in the criminal society of Berk and Astrid had to be careful to not be recognized in the street when she wanted to be discreet.

All thing considered, Astrid didn't mind the reputation, it was a small price to pay considering the recognition finally received for all her years of hard work. But now she still has her greatest challenge yet to accomplish.

She still have a vow to fulfill.

Catching that bastard of Night Fury.

* * *

**Hi! ^^  
**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. There might have been a lot more mistakes than usual as I kind of had to rush this chapter to publish it for the New Year so the person who usually correct my chapters didn't have time to do correct this one.**

**So I apologize for the mistakes or the words that might be missing. I hope it didn't disturb your reading. I tried to correct myself but I didn't finish it in the freshest mind of state as I pulled an all-nighter to finish it. I'll update the chapter as I'll correct it later on.**

**Now let me say it to you again:**

**HAPPY NEW YEAR! May a lot of good things happen this year! ^^**

**I'll see you for the next chapter!**


	17. Chapter 17 - Leads and theories

**Hiccup in a Flash, chap 17**

**I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or its characters, just merely borrowing the character for an adventure of my own.**

**Please enjoy yourself with this fanfic ^^**

**\- Chapter 17: Leads and theories**

* * *

_"Team alpha, we are moving to the gates. Prepare yourself to shoot at anyone that comes near it. Team beta, pursue the order of Bloody Fist and look for Night Fury."_

Astrid was sipping tea on her couch, her computer playing yet again the footage of the ambush in the warehouse. Usually she would have gone for a mug of strong steaming hot coffee but it was getting late and she didn't want to stay up for too long. Just long enough for her to found another clue or anything that might calm the storm of thoughts and questions raging in her mind.

Police sirens were getting louder as the patrol car set to investigate the call at the warehouse approached. As she saw him do hundreds of time, Night Fury pulled the shard of wood stuck in his leg in one swift movement before running out of the warehouse, leaving behind his characteristic scream. The footage always ended shortly after that.

_Where does the sound came from? Is it because of the Speed Force?_

Astrid lost her gaze contemplating a spark of Speed Force on the screen of her computer when the footage came to an end, it's last image showing Night Fury moving between warehouse, Speed Force sprouting out of his body.

It was ridiculous how such a small thing could be so powerful, almost God like powerful. It really didn't look like much like that but Astrid guessed that this small spark might able to power her appartement for a year.

_If not more..._

The Speed Force.

Astrid didn't like to think too much about it. It was the source of all this mess and the reason why Helheim's Gate was here and why Berk found itself with its very own superhero that seemed to come straight from a comic book, ridiculing the BCPD. So many thing were still unknown about the Speed Force. And yet its existence made sense somehow.

As she once again started the footage, she began to reduce the speed of the footage, slowing it down even more at key moments of the footage. Like when Night Fury approached the last thug and triggered the claymore. She paused the footage several times, zoomed on different part of the footage and once again she noted nothing of interest. The quality of the video was enough to read the serial number on the claymore just before it exploded but she already tried it a few days ago and it led nowhere. This claymore came from a large shipment that was declared stolen two weeks ago at the company that produced it, leaving no evidences behind and no lead. Astrid personally thought that the company were lying and actually sold it to Helheim's Gate but with no proof she couldn't get anywhere.

Frustrated, she angrily closed her computer and started to sip again her tea that was now significantly colder. But she had to hand it to Night Fury, the program he gave her was amazing. After Hiccup has analyzed it, it turned out that the 2 files with the video of the warehouse he gave them actually consisted of a program and the same video by at a special video format. Apparently, if she understood Hiccup's gibberish right, that program processes a specific type of video created by Night Fury that were surprisingly light for the quantity of information and was able to render a footage of Night Fury running around at top speed into something that were actually visible by human. The footage they saw before was actually an export after treatment of that program. After Hiccup installed it on her computer and explained to her how to use it, she tried it out and was impressed by two things.

First the speed of Night Fury. With this program she could watched the footage in his original quality,without slowing it down and she had to admit it was way too fast for her. Second was the quality of the program, really easy to use, it always kept the video in a optimal quality and even processed without crashing the corrupted part of the video that were destroyed by the explosion. Even if the design of the interface was a bit has-been it had nothing to envy to the recent apps that large companies sold.

Suddenly she realized what she just said.

"It had nothing to envy to the recent apps that large companies sell! There can't be many people that can do that! I mean the guy is a freaking genius: he created his own communication network, a program to read and process the video type he created for the stuff he installed in his helmet. It certainly isn't what an average guy can do at home. It should be pretty easy to deduce who in Berk can actually do something like that."

Now that she thought about it, she didn't know how she didn't thought about it before. Night Fury already proved that he was a genius and the number of them was quite limited, especially in Berk. The list should be pretty short and after that it should be easy to find out who among them was Night Fury.

"I bet someone like that must be pretty known in the community!" Another sudden realization hit her. "Hiccup! He's the one that examined Night Fury work, he might know who is able to create such program."

Satisfied of her plan, she headed to bed as it was way too late to call Hiccup but tomorrow she's gonna ask him first thing in the morning. After quickly changing, she lay down on her bed and switch off the light. She expected to be up for hours after being all excited from her sudden realization but the drawbacks of hours of frustration and mindless questioning caught up to her and soon she could feel Morpheus knocking at her door. With a small smile she let herself drifted to sleep.

_I can't wait to be tomorrow._

* * *

Meanwhile someone else would be happy if he just could live till tomorrow.

Andrew was exhausted. The day had been long, while they were loading a large cargo the crane got stuck again and they had a delay of several hours that they had to compensate. As he passed the door to enjoy some alone time watching TV when he discovered three shady men in black clothes waiting for him inside. Before he could even asked them what the hell they were doing here a fourth man walked behind and close the door while pointing a gun at him. With a silent sign on his lips he gestured him to keep quiet. One look in any of these men's eyes was all one would need to understood that they were here to mean business. One wrong decision and they'll shoot to kill.

Gulping nervously, he turned to face the men waiting for him in the living room, not daring to utter a sound. One of the men facing him draw out his own gun with a silencer and gestured him to sit next to him on the couch. Andrew couldn't move, it was as if his legs instantly turned into lead and at the same time he could feel them itchy to run the hell out of here. The conflicting sensation left him rooted on the spot with shaky legs. It wasn't until he felt a sharp sensation of a gun pressed on his back that he finally found back some control over his legs and walked to the couch, nearly falling twice in the 3 yards that separated him from the couch, before finally sitting down.

It would be more accurate to say that he fell more than sat on the couch. Nervously straightening himself, he put his hands on his knees and tried to stare at the coffee table but his gaze always shifted on the different weapons his "guests" were wearing. But he didn't dare to raise his eyes above the level of the guns, too afraid to look at any of them in the eyes.

After what seemed to be Andrew's longest minute of his life, one of the men finally talked. It was the man who gestured him to sit next to him. He casually put back his gun in his holster and settled himself more comfortably on the couch.

"Well, that went a lot better than I thought it would. For a moment there I was afraid you'll do something stupid like crying loudly for help."

A cold chill ran down Andrew's spin, his firsts instincts had been to do just that but he managed to control himself at the last minute.

"I mean, how stupid is it? Screaming for help with nobody around and guns pointed at you is pretty dumb thing to do if you want my opinion. Even if people came to help you'll be dead by the time they got there, right?" He looked at his colleagues that didn't made a move to acknowledge his question, sternly staring at Andrew. But it didn't seem to bother the man who continued to talk his mind.

"Or is it that we don't look serious enough? Are we not intimidating enough?" He turned his gaze to the only one that seemed to be listening. "Hey! Tell me! Were we not serious? Did it looked like we wouldn't kill you if you resisted?"

Still staring at the coffee table, Andrew tried to mustered an answer but only incomprehensible gibberish came out of his mouth.

"Look at me when you talk! And speak up."

Nearly jumping out of his skin, he quickly turned to face the man. He didn't realized it earlier when he entered but the man had an impressive mesh of scars on the right side of his face. And they looked pinkish like they were recent. Not wanting to stare, he force himself to make eye contact with him but for some reason his eyes made him feel even more uncomfortable than his scars. Something unnatural was reflected in them. Finally he settled to contemplate the man tattoo before answering.

"Err... no sir. You looked- You looked very intimidating. And powerful."

He could feel the man's inquisitive glare on him inspecting him for a long moment but he resolutely refuse to look at him in the eyes. After a while, the other man seemed to be content with the answer and visibly relaxed as he put his arm on Andrew's shoulder.

"You see, I'm really glad you said that. Because not two weeks ago I visited someone else and that moron started to yell for help." Andrew tensed at that moment. He knew perfectly well who he was referring to. Two weeks ago, in the building a block away from here, a woman was heard crying for help all the way down to the street. It wasn't exactly a bad neighborhood but it had the bad luck to be between the Berserkers' and the Outcasts' territories. With the war between Berserkers and Outcasts still fresh on everyone's mind, everybody ran for cover and locked themselves home. Two hours later the police arrived and found the woman dead. He heard people talked about it all the week that followed. That story is one of the reason he stopped himself to call for help.

"So of course I killed the b*tch because come on! Who doesn't?" He looked again at the other men that came with him and again they didn't made a move to show that they heard him, solely focused on Andrew. He clicked his tongue and continued his discussion with Andrew. "But I tell you if I had know how long it would take for the police to come I would have take more my time to kill her."

Andrew nervously gulped. The man confessed killing a woman as if it was the more natural thing in the world. It didn't bode well for his chance of survival.

"Anyway I have the feeling that we won't have that problem with you, ain't we?"

Again Andrew tried to answer but his unnaturally dried mouth only let hollow sounds came out.

"Speak up!"

"N-No, y-you won't have a problem, I won't make a sound. I promise."

The man with the scar flashed a smile full of teeth.

"Good, good. But we don't want you to be too silent, do we?" Then he turned to the man blocking the exit. "Turn on the TV and find us a loud channel like a game or a movie. But not too loud, we wouldn't want to disturb the neighbors."

Soon the sounds of a heated basketball match filled the room but did nothing to ease the tension of the room.

"Now here's what will happen: I'll ask some questions and you'll answer them truthfully. If I like your answer, we continue to the next question. But if I don't like the answer… Well let's just say you will like it even less than me. But there's one rule that must always keep in mind, and it's an important one so you better remember it. If you ever are louder than the TV there I'll kill you on the spot, no matter how many question I have left. You're not the only one we can get information from. Is that clear?"

If Andrew thought his mouth was dry before it was nothing compare to how it was now. Not wanting to be betrayed by his voice yet again, he fervently nodded that he understood. The man responded with a cold smile.

"Good. Let's start."

* * *

The detective squad was rather calm when Astrid entered. After such large revelation as last night, learning about the Speed Force and the shadow competition of Helheim's Gate to get their hands on it, she kind of expected things to be different when she came that morning. But surprisingly everything was the same as ever and everyone was just minding their own business. It was kind of eery feeling.

It was strange to hear the same lame macho joke as usual as she poured herself some coffee. One would have thought that she would find some comfort from this familiar atmosphere and the same cheap coffee after all the craziness that was going on her life. The arrival of Night Fury, Hiccup as assigned her partner, the warehouse full of grenades, the exploding warehouse with a dead man, successively being toyed and meeting Night Fury for a partnership, investigating Helheim's Gate, Cadmus Labs and finally learning about the Speed Force. All seemed to have happened so quickly and her guts was telling her that it was just the beginning, the storm was yet to come. She should be enjoying those small moments of normality while it lasted but she didn't. She was craving to learn and uncover every secrets there was. But for the moment she painfully realized that the more answers she found, the more question she had. And she won't just wait for more answers to come to her.

Throwing the rest of her coffee in the nearest trash bin, she resolutely walked to her desk. Hiccup wasn't there yet but she wasn't surprised and instead changed direction for the forensic lab. As expected Hiccup was already there, testing some algorithms on the position of the last known activities of Helheim's Gate.

"Good morning."

Hiccup jump at Astrid's voice, obviously he hadn't heard enter into the lab.

"G-Good morning Astrid."

Astrid smirked at the stuttering. Hiccup really was the weirdest guy. One moment he would be completely professional and serious, speaking with confidence, sometimes even a bit cocky and he would gave orders to people with an authority in his voice that you would never guess he had. At another time he would be all sarcastic and teasing. During those moments, to her frustration, he would be insufferably right. But the rest of the time, he would start acting all shy and began to stutter a few times, never daring to look directly at her, just throwing a few looks in her way when he thought she wasn't watching. It was kind of funny and cute to watch squirm under her glare. It was awakening some sadistic urges she didn't know she possessed.

_Let's play a bit._

She quickly get rid of her small smirk and tried to look as serious as possible.

"Why the stutter? Am I scaring you?"

"W-What?! No! You're not scaring me, it's just that..."

Astrid deepened her glare and add some seriousness in her tone.

"So you're saying that I'm not scary?"

"N-No! It's not what I meant. It's just that I- it's ..."

He was quickly losing his footing and was making less and less sense as Astrid continue to glare at him. He made one last pathetic attempt at correcting himself before finally given up.

"I- What I meant was that it was why -It's not that you're not scary but you didn't scare me and just it -I." Under the scrutiny of Astrid's "mad" face, he let out a large sigh as he raised his hands in surrender.

"Sorry I wasn't implying that you're not scary or anything. It's just that I was just surprised, I wasn't expecting anyone so early in the lab."

Astrid took a look at the nearby clock.

_7:02, I guess it is early._

She then noticed that Hiccup was looking at her warily, not knowing if she was mad at him or not. She took pity on him and eased up her "mad" face and graced him with one of her rare small smile.

"Don't worry, I'm not mad? I won't bite your head off." She couldn't resist throwing one last joke at him. "I have my battle axe for that."

Usually that would be the part where people will look at her funny, not knowing if she was joking about cutting their head off or owning a battle axe. But to her surprise Hiccup rolled his eyes and answer in that sarcastic tone of his.

"Of course you have. Did you strap it on your back coming this morning or did you thought it might be an inconvenience while driving?"

There was that dry sarcasm that sometimes pointed over his usual shyness. Like often it was quite witty and Astrid had to fought off the smile at the image of herself driving with her familial battle axe strapped to her back. It was quite amusing and she found herself playing along.

"I just had to drop it off at the dry cleaner to clean the dry blood stains on it. I forgot to clean it last night before going to sleep. Rookie mistake."

It was said with such a poker face that Hiccup exploded in laughter. It really was a sight to behold, Astrid telling a joke with such a straight face that for a moment Hiccup would have believe her if it wasn't so utterly ridiculous. As he was lost in a fit a laughter, Astrid couldn't suppress a small chuckle before it transformed into a genuine laugh. It was refreshing to see someone that doesn't find her jokes downright psychotic. Most people would stop for a second to wonder if it was actually a joke.

You could say that it was a day of first. It must be the first time that Hiccup heard Astrid tell a joke. Scratch that, it was the first time Hiccup ever heard Astrid laugh. And he found it breathtaking.

More than how melodious the laugh sounded, what really struck him is how her face freed herself from that sempiternal scowl of her as every line and curve of her face seemed to change to find the place they always meant to be, her features free to express what they should always do: radiant joy and laughter. And it was downright beautiful.

_A smile really is her best feature._

Getting lost in awe at her laughing face made him to stop laughing altogether and stared at her. Seeing that he was no longer laughing, Astrid stopped too and looked at him strangely, her features returning to her usual scowl.

"What?"

It took a moment before Hiccup was able to answer.

"No-Nothing. So why are you here?"

It was all it took for Astrid to fall back into work mode immediately.

"Last night I had a idea that might help us but I would like your opinion on it as you are more an expert than me on the subject."

Giving her his full attention, he gestured her to sit down.

"Do we want some privacy?"

"If possible."

Nodding once, he walked to the door and close it after taking a last look around the lab. As he expected they were the only ones in the lab at the moment and he walked back to sat on his usual chair next to Astrid.

"So what is it?"

For a moment she seemed to hesitate on how to explain before she finally started to speak.

"I know that we should focus on Helheim's Gate. Especially after we learned that Helheim's Gate is after the Speed Force."

Hiccup simply nodded his agreement.

"But it would still be better to learn more about Night Fury if only we ever need some leverage on him. After all there's a fair chance that he won't always do what we want him to do and we need to be able to pressure him"

He gestured her to go on.

"Here's my idea. You know the program that you gave me, the one to watch the footage of the warehouse, the one that Night Fury gave to us? It looked pretty complicated and it obviously needed some serious work to achieve such a result. Right"

Sensing that she was expecting from him a confirmation he agreed.

"Yes, it's not something that could be improvised. A decent amount of thought must have gone through it."

"Exactly! That's what I thought. And it's not just that. He created his own cellular network and programmed a burner to access it. Plus there's this stuff he talked about, something about adding some stuff to the lens of his helmet. Augmented imagery or something he called it."

"Augmented reality." Hiccup corrected for her.

"Yes that! It must take some serious brains to create all that. It can't be something that an average guy could ever conceive in his garage."

"You could be surprised by what people could conceive in their garage. In fact some major tech business started like that..."

"It's not what I meant. My point is that the guy must be a genius."

Hiccup wasn't comfortable with the term genius. He preferred to consider himself as someone that develop some skills more than most people. But he guessed that the term could apply.

"I'm not sure about genius but it's sure he can do stuff that very few can. What's your point? You want him to tutor your niece or something?"

Astrid rolled her eyes at the suggestion.

"No, don't be absurd. What I want to say is that Berk is not really reputed for geniuses. Sure the university is starting to have more and more of them but it can't be that many yet. My question to you is that: how many people in Berk can do what Night Fury did?"

Now Hiccup was seeing where she was going. He had to admit that it was a good idea. Berk was traditionally more brawn than brain and few could be considered as brilliant, even less a genius. It's true than since Berk started to grow a lot more people came to Berk and the average IQ went up quite a bit. But the companies that established themselves in Berk was manly headquarters or fish and oil activity-based company. Not many tech companies or labs were in Berk and that seriously limited the number of people able to create what Night Fury did. Add it to that Night Fury's knowledge of police work and Astrid might get her very first suspect very soon. He had to lead Astrid astray.

"Well?"

"Er..." Hiccup's mind was running at full capacity to desperately find a valid excuse. And that was saying quite something considering his super fast thinking ability. He wouldn't be surprised if pretty soon some Speed Force sparks started to leak from his brain.

"I don't really know. It could be quite a lot. It's just that..."

"There can't be that many that can do that. The program you show was pretty high-level stuff, almost professional."

For once Hiccup wasn't all that happy that someone complimented his work.

"Y-Yes but..."

"But what?"

Astrid was starting to lose patience. She thought it was a pretty good theory but Hiccup didn't look all that enthusiast by it. If she knew anything about the guy, normally at this point he would already have ten ideas on how to process next.

_What's wrong? Did he choose that moment to finally come on dry on ideas?_

Ideas wasn't what Hiccup lacked as thousands were going through his mind. But none were of any help to him until finally a small weak one came out.

"Even if there is not that many people in Berk that can build what Night Fury made I'm not sure it will help us. We aren't even sure that he is from Berk. With his abilities it wouldn't a far stretch to think that he could run between here and New York in less than an hour."

She had to admit that he got a point. Hiccup wasn't finished, now that he found a decent idea more was coming his way.

"But it's unlikely that he do that everyday. He might also have move to Berk after he developed the tech he needed. We don't really know where the tech was develop. Also several hypotheses could be formulated for their development that might not help us."

"Like?"

"He might not be the one that made all that, he could have a partner, a sidekick if you will. It is also possible that he simply bought or order it to be built if he's rich enough. Maybe he's not millionaire rich but still could be filthy rich and have a company that developed it for him. Or a company simply build it and it just hasn't reached the market yet. And if he's not rich, there's also the possibility that he stole it."

Astrid frown at that.

"He didn't seem like the type. I don't think he is a thief."

Hiccup had a small smile.

"He may not be a thief but there is still a possibility that he did it without considering it a theft. In his ideal of justice he could consider that stealing that tech was for the greater good and thus justifying it being stolen. But the thief is just one of the many hypotheses we could formulate to explain the tech."

Hiccup looked at Astrid and saw that she was starting the weakness of her theory.

_Good. One last push._

"Lastly, even if you were right and he is in fact a genius, he might very well be an unknown one. He could be someone that is an expert in technology by passion and doesn't do it for work or academic research. If that's the case he wouldn't be known by the scientific community and could have kept for himself all he ever made. If we're lucky he might had a blog and maybe a YouTube channel but who doesn't nowadays? There would be no way to find him among all those that exist."

Astrid seemed quite disheartened from all those explanations. She had some hope her theory might have help them but now saw that she clearly didn't gave it enough thought.

"Your idea is good but it might not help us. I could give you a list of people that are known for their technical prowess and that I think are good enough to create Night Fury's tech. But I can't guarantee you that Night Fury, or his partner if he has one, are in fact in that list. There's just as many reason to believe he's in that list that he isn't. You could investigate them but you won't get many information without being approved by a judge. There's a good chance that it'll end up in a dead end. Sorry."

"No it's not your fault. But do you think that-"

Astrid got cut off by Hiccup's ringing tone. It rang shortly twice, signaling a text, but Hiccup recognized that tone. It was the one that informed him that he got texted the address of a crime scene. He promptly apologize to Astrid as he took out his phone.

"Sorry I got to go, I just got called for a crime scene. I need to leave now."

He quickly grabbed his forensic case next to his desk and put on his coat after hanging his lab coat on his chair.

"Ok, I understand we'll discuss later. But when you come back, could make that list of geniuses for me? I still would like to investigate it a bit."

_She really doesn't let anything go, does she?_

Normally it would be a quality that he admires but now it just made him nervous. Nonetheless he still tried to keep it cool and agreed.

"Sure. If I find time to do so I'll do it. But don't get your hopes up. Meantime it would be really great if you could focus on Helheim's Gate. They got some Speed Force in their hand and I really don't want to find out what they want to do with it the hard way."

He barely finished his sentence as the doors closed on him, leaving Astrid alone in the lab.

"Me too."

Helheim's Gate having their hand on some Speed Force could only mean bad news.

After one last look around she too left the lab, surprising another forensic scientist as he walked in. She didn't remember his name but it didn't matter as he crawl out her way under her glare.

* * *

Ruffnut didn't found Astrid at her desk as she expected her to be but instead she saw her coming back from the forensic lab. She looked in a bad mood.

_Weird. Fishlegs assured me that she seemed in a rather good mood when he saw her coming this morning._

"Hey Astrid, what's wrong? You look like you just stomach another Snotlout's daily flirt attempt. But he's never here that early. So what's up?"

Astrid dismissed her with a wave of her hand and sat at her desk, looking through documents on the mess that she call her desk. But it didn't stop Ruffnut as she sat on Hiccup's chair and stared at her for a long minute.

"Alright, alright, I'll tell you. Just stop it!"

Seeing as she wasn't about to get anything down anytime soon, she sat more comfortably in her chair and started to explain.

"I got a theory last night about catching Night Fury while looking at-" she looked around to be sure that no one was listening and discreetly leaned on her desk before continuing in a hush tone. "You know the footage that Night Fury gave us. The thing is I thought that it was a good one and discussed it with Hiccup this morning but it turned out that wasn't such a great idea after all."

"Bummer. That sucks."

She let out a sigh and let the disappointment wash over her face.

"I know. The worse is that I had my hopes up for a moment but apparently it'll more than likely be a dead end. And now I got nothing. Hiccup is right, I better focus on Helheim's Gate, especially now that we know about..." another look around. "... the Speed Force. It's ought to be our priority."

"That's too bad because I might have something for you."

Astrid arched an eyebrow, visibly surprised.

"It's something that happened a few weeks ago, a few day after that warehouse blew up to be precise. A guy was arrested for public drunkenness and was put in the drunk tank. Normally he wouldn't have to do that but he lost a bet with one of the younger officer and Tuffnut ended up having to take care of the drunk tank that night. There was one guy that was really drunk and started yelling that he saw Night Fury all bleeding and stuff. Tuffnut asked him if he saw him at the bottom of a vodka bottle, not believing a word. It was the week we made a lot of ambush for Night Fury and he made fun of everyone in the department at every ambush, toying with us all week."

Astrid ground her teeth together. She remembered fairly well that week.

"But the guy insisted he wasn't drunk at the time and that he saw him a few days ago. Seeing how well Night Fury was all week, Tuffnut didn't believe him and told him to shut up. However he didn't stopped there and claimed that he even took a photo of it. But when Tuffnut asked him where was that famous photo he said he didn't have it, that it was his friend who took it. Tuffnut thought he was just a drunk liar and thought nothing more of it. Me neither if I'm to be honest. But that was until Hiccup showed us that footage you mentioned earlier." She too paused a moment to look around. "Seeing how he was injured that night and the super speedy recovery the Speed Force is supposed to give him, I think that story is a lot more credible now."

Astri wasn't impressed. She didn't see how any of it was supposed to help us.

"Even if it's true what's the big deal? He may got a quick snapshot at Night Fury and what? It's no use to us, we already have clear footage of him with the TV footage of the bank robbery and what we took during our meeting."

"True but this is where it get really interesting. When I saw that footage of the ambush at the warehouse, something didn't seemed right with the distortion of the image. It's just too clean and it only distorts and get corrupted when Night Fury is looking at his body. I discussed it with Fishlegs and he agrees with me. Something is wrong with this footage."

She paused to see if she got Astrid's interest and smiled at Astrid's face. You could see how she desperately wanted to learn more.

_Astrid isn't the only one good at her job._

"And?"

"And it's just too unnatural. Fishlegs theory is that Night Fury voluntarily corrupted those part of the footage to hide something. As if there could be something that could identify him. I don't think that he's trying to hide something on the suit, because as you said, we already got clear footage on him in his suit. No, my guess is the explosion might have reveal something that was under the suit. Maybe a tattoo or something. And we know that the drunk pal of Tuffnut took a photo of him and likely while he was still injured. Now, what if he took a photo of what Night Fury was trying to hide?"

Suddenly everything was connecting so fast as realisation drawn upon Astrid.

_Indeed the timing of the corrupted parts of the footage is too good to be a coincidence. And if he really trying to hide something, it would make sense. That drunk guy might also have told the truth as the date matched. And..._

Suddenly a memory surfaced. A memory from the night she made a deal with Night Fury.

"""

_His black suit was blending with darkness of the place so well that she might have not noticed him if it wasn't for the moonlight. His mask was hiding his features but she felt a hint of pride when she noticed that the graze she made on his helmet last time was still there. _But it isn't the only graze he has now._ She could spot some grazes and cuts all over his suit, especially around his legs. It even had been ripped off and repaired in different places. She noticed the repairs of two large rips on the side of his left thigh and the front of his right leg. Smaller scratches like shrapnel were all over the second rip. _I wonder how he got it? Did he got wounded?

"""

"That's it! When I saw him for the first time I noticed that his suit has been ripped around his legs and has been stitched together. He had two rips on the left leg, but I guessed he got it from the wooden shard we saw on the footage. There was a rip on his right leg too there too but we never have a clear shot of it on the footage. The image was always too corrupted whenever he looked at his right leg!"

"There must be something on it that might help identify him."

Astrid suddenly looked at Ruffnut, serious as hell.

"Please tell me that you got that drunk guy's name."

Ruffnut grinned at the small plea in Astrid's voice.

"Better. I got his address."

* * *

The road to where that guy lived was unbearably long. It wasn't that far in itself but the traffic had been an horror just to leave the city. After a few miles in the suburb, Astrid and Ruffnut finally reached the street where the guy was supposed to live. But the traffic there had been even worse than in the city. As they arrived in front of the building, they saw a rather large crowd has gathered in front of the building, as well as a TV crew, several police cars and the legist's vehicle.

Astrid got a bad feeling about it. She quickly parked at an illegal spot but didn't care. As she walked to ask what was going on at one of the officers preventing the onlookers to enter, she spotted Hiccup leaving the building.

Quickly, her and Ruffnut flashed her badges to the officers who let them in and Astrid ran after Hiccup.

"What's going on?"

"Astrid?! What are you doing here? I thought that Sven was handling the case."

"What case?"

"You don't know? Then what are you doing here?"

A furious glare silenced him and Hiccup promptly answered Astrid's question.

"We've got a murder on the 5th floor. A nasty one with suspicion of torture but strangely no one heard a thing. And the scene was way too clean too, it was a pro's work."

"Who was it?"

"A certain Andrew Patterton. He was working on the docks. No criminal record."

"Odin's balls! He's the one I wanted to see."

"You knew him?"

Ignoring him, Astrid and Ruffnut exchanged a knowing look.

There was no way it was a coincidence.

* * *

**There! I hoped you enjoyed it! ^^**

**Sorry for the long wait, I got busy and for long I hesitated between two ways I could go with this chapter. It took me a month to finally decide and I chose a third way that satisfied me more ^^**

**I was quite happy to see that I passed the mark of the 200 followers and I just want to thanks for your reviews on the last chapter. I'm glad that you like that bit of Astrid past and Hiccup's appearance for his first rescue ^^**

**For the one year anniversary, I have something that had been going in my mind for quite sometime that would be an exploration of Valka and Stoick's past but I don't know if I'll have the motivation for it. I know where I should start and go but I lack ideas to fill the story in between. If you have some ideas, don't hesitate to share.**

**Sorry for any mistakes there might be. You can point them to me on the Google Docs of chapter (link on my profile page).**

**See you next time. It should be quicker.**


	18. Chapter 18 - Tension

**Hiccup in a Flash, chap 18**

**I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or its characters, just merely borrowing the character for an adventure of my own.**

**Hi! It's been A YEAR! Exactly a year since I publish the first chapter of this fanfic, amazing how time flew by! I'll like to thanks all those who read me all that time and those who took the time to comment, I'm really grateful. But enough of that I'll have more time at the end, first what you all been waiting for: the new chapter.**

**Please enjoy yourself with this fanfic ^^**

**\- Chapter 18: Tension**

* * *

"So how do you know him?"

Hiccup was watching Astrid who still hasn't explained what she was doing here or how did she know the victim.

"I don't know him. Ruffnut came to me with a lead and we came to ask him some questions."

Hiccup was kind of surprised. After he managed to undermine her latest theory on Night Fury (that was a bit too close to home if he were to be honest), he asked her to focus on Helheim's Gate instead and less than an hour later she was already chasing a lead. He had to say he was impressed with how fast she worked.

Hiccup looked at Ruffnut and asked in a low tone, mindful of the news crew not far from them.

"Is he connected to Helheim's Gate?"

"The hell if I know! We came here because we thought he might have some compromising evidences on Night Fury."

Astrid saw a twitch of annoyance passed on Hiccup's face and cringed as Ruffnut clearly wasn't as mindful as Hiccup about being overheard by the media.

After exchanging a quick look with Astrid he gestured them to follow him. He guided to the nearest parking lot where his car was parked. The parking has been cleared by the police earlier as they secured the perimeter around the building. They wouldn't risk being overheard there.

Hiccup started the hostilities.

"You're investigating Night Fury again?! Didn't we agree that Helheim's Gate was way more of a threat and need to be dealt with immediately? Even for you it should be clear how dangerous the Speed Force is in the wrong hand."

Astrid wasn't expecting the sudden aggression.

"We didn't agree on anything. I recognized that Helheim's Gate is the bigger threat but that didn't mean that we should stop investigating Night Fury all together. I still think that we should have something on him."

"Damnit Astrid! The Speed Force is no joke. It's way too powerful to be let into the wrong hands. We should focus solely on Helheim's Gate. We need to find out where they hide the Speed Force and take it back from them before they got a chance to do anything with it. We don't have time to waste going after people that has only helped us so far."

"Are you saying that we shouldn't arrest Night Fury?! That we should let a vigilante roam free in the street of Berk without any accountability or not knowing who he is or what he can do? That we should let him ridicule and undermine the efforts of the BCPD? That we should let him make a joke out of us?! Moreover he is the source of all the Speed Force in Berk. Technically doesn't that make him even more of a threat than the Helheim's Gate?"

There was an accusation in Astrid's voice that Hiccup wasn't expecting. He tried to defend himself.

"That's not what I'm saying! Of course we shouldn't let Night Fury roamed free with complete impunity. I'm just saying that going after a guy that still haven't done anything wrong shouldn't be our top priority. Catching the criminal organization that has in its possession the power to of the Speed Force should be a way higher priority than going after a vigilante to repair the wounded pride of the BCPD."

Sensing that it was about to escalate in a heated argument, Ruffnut intervened before Astrid could argued back.

"Guys! We better get moving, you two are starting to gather a crowd." Indeed the shouting had reached where the camera crew was and they began to take an interest in Astrid and Hiccup's argument. "How about you two leave it at that for now and maybe Hiccup you show us what happened here exactly?"

Astrid and Hiccup nodded at Ruffnut's proposal but the tension between the two was still running high.

Trying to regain his temper, Hiccup opened the trunk of his car.

"Let me drop my tools in my car and I'll explain the situation to you."

* * *

As Astrid and Ruffnut entered the apartment, the first thing they noticed was the bloody body sitting on a chair facing the entrance. The medical examiner was still examining the body while a few cops were tagging the last of the evidences.

The apartment was rather small, consisting of a living room coupled with a kitchen, a bathroom and a single bedroom. The couch in the shape of a L was facing the entrance and the TV was placed on the right corner of the room, near a consequent collection of DVDs and a few video games. On the left of the entrance was an open kitchen where most of the drawers had been left open, their content spilled on the floor. Some items could be found on the coffee table, stained with blood.

The body had been tied to a single chair, facing the entrance and the coffee table behind him. The carpet was drenched with blood and formed a large pool around the body as well as some partial bootprints. Looking at the body closely, some large lacerations could be seen on his arms, legs and torso. Some dried blood was also flowing from his mouth but the rest of his face was rather clean of any marks. His eyes were still opened with a crazed look that gave the chills to Ruffnut. On top of numerous laceration and dried blood on his torso, Astrid noticed two burn marks above his heart with two holes testifying of gunshots.

_Point blank shots in the heart. He died instantly._

Astrid continued to assess the room while Hiccup started to explain what he gathered so far.

"His name is Andrew Patterton but you already know that. He's 32, works at the docks at loading and unloading the cargos that arrives in Berk. He lives alone and stayed mostly to himself, rarely interacting with the neighbors. No criminal record, he was found dead this morning by his neighbor that came to ask him if he also had some trouble with the hot water. The door that had been left unlocked and opened when he knocked on the door. That's when he saw the body. The M.E **(Medical Examiner)** estimates that he died sometimes last night, between 8 and 9pm. The cause of the death is the two bullets in the chest point blank that you can see here."

Hiccup gestured to the bullet holes on Andrew's body.

"But he didn't die painlessly. As the clear evidence in his body suggests, he's been tortured for quite some time before being finally killed. Judging from what we found on the coffee table, they must have use what they could find in the kitchen."

"They?" asked Ruffnut.

"Yes, at least 4 men beside the victim judging by the deep indentation of footprints in the carpet I found there, there and there." He pointed to different spot on the carpet. "They stood near the couch and near the entrance. They belong to large men with a bigger size shoe than the victim. They must be of consequent built and have stayed perfectly still for several hours to leave a mark on the carpet like those."

"Are you sure it was from last night and not from something that might happened way before?"

This time it was Astrid who spoke.

"Yes for at least two of them. Some small bloodstains abnormally stopped where the footprints began, proving that those footprints occurred last night. It those two, the two closest to the body. As for the third footprint I can safely presume that it was also from last night as it presents the same characteristics as the other two."

"But you said they were four beside Andrew."

"Correct. There was another one set of footprint. It didn't leave deep indentation like the others and belonged to a slightly smaller man but he left partial bootprint in blood as he walked into the bloodpool around the body. Most of it have been hidden by the carpet as it absorbed the blood from the body, but you can still see some bootprint going back and forth between the coffee table and the body. My guess is that he was the one who tortured him."

Astrid frowned at Hiccup's explanation. It wasn't matching what he told them earlier.

"You said it was done by professionals but they seemed to have left a lot of trace behind. That doesn't sound like professional to me."

Hiccup shook his head.

"No, we have nearly nothing. Apart from what I just told you, there is nothing else. There is no fingerprints, no fibers or no organic tissues left behind. The torture tools had been left behind but tracing their origins would lead us nowhere. The footprints are mostly unusable, due to the density of the carpet we can't make anything of the indentations and the partial bootprint with blood is a dead-end. I can already tell what it is: it's a generic model of construction boots that are sold by the hundreds every day. I can establish a raw estimation of the size and build of those men but it won't get us far. Moreover I inspected the bootprints on the carpet to see if I could maybe trace where they went but I couldn't find a speck of dust or mud. And seeing how the trail of blood from the boots of the guy that tortured Andrew stopped short after the door I'll say that they cleaned their shoes before and after entering. They planned it and were cautious."

As he was explaining he pointed to them the slight blood traces that were going from Andrew's body to the door.

"The only particularity of this case is the way he's been tortured. He visibly went under a great deal of pain but didn't make a sound as the neighbors heard nothing except the TV. And it seems like he was the one trying desperately to not make a sound. The M.E said that he clenched his teeth so much that he cracked his teeth causing some blood to flow from his mouth as you can see here."

Ruffnut emitted a low whistle.

"Wow! That's sick. He must have been really desperate." She nudge Astrid with her elbow. "Maybe he really liked his neighbors."

Usually Astrid would have been appalled Ruffnut tendency to make jokes in the most inappropriate of circumstances but her mind was somewhere else and didn't really noticed what Ruffnut just said to her.

"Yes he must have been really desperate. There is not that many people that can make that desperate."

Hiccup didn't miss Astrid's tone.

"Are you thinking at someone in particular?"

For a moment she said nothing as she continued to examine Andrew's body before she finally lied to Hiccup.

"No. No one."

Hiccup could tell that she was lying but didn't push her more. He had more pressing questions.

"Don't you think it's about time that you explain to me what is going on? You said that he had some _compromising evidences_ on Night Fury." He whispered that last part. "I don't know what made you think he was connected to Night Fury but you clearly know why he's been tortured. So what is it?"

"You wouldn't be interested." said Astrid, her voice carrying some grudge as she didn't forget their previous argument. "I wouldn't want to waste your time with something as trivial as the BCPD wounded pride."

Astrid glared at him defiantly and Hiccup didn't backed down as they stared at each other. After a moment, Hiccup turned to Ruffnut.

"Ruffnut?"

Hesitantly she looked at Astrid. Astrid continued to stare at Hiccup for a second before nodding.

"My dumb brother bet that he could drink the milk bottle that stayed in the fridge for the past month without throwing up and spilling any. He nearly won but he drank some milk in the wrong pipe and spouted the rest of the milk on the officer's face. That was too bad because it would have been so worth it when he got sick later. You should have seen him throwing up all night, it was..." She then noticed the glare that both Hiccup and Astrid were throwing. She wisely chose to skip some of the gruesome details. "Anyway, he lost the bet and got to do drunk tank duty instead of the officer the next night. Among the really drunk guys was the victim, Andrew. He was yelling that he saw Night Fury injured a few days before and that he even took a picture of it. When Tuffnut confronted him he said he wasn't really the one who took it but it was his friend who did. Tuffnut thought it was some drunk bullsh*t and told him to shut up. But now we saw what you showed us the other night we thought that it might have been true seeing how _he_ got injured. The timing was good too."

Ruffnut was careful to not mention the footage of Night Fury as she could see some newbies listening to them. Hiccup's head snapped to look at Andrew's body again. It was almost too fast for Astrid and Ruffnut to follow.

Hiccup knew he had saw him before but he couldn't put his fingers on it earlier. Now that he was looking more closely to his face he recognized him. He was one of the dock workers that found him when he passed out after the ambush of Helheim's Gate. He couldn't believe he had been stupid enough to not realized that they took a picture of him at the time. His mind was trying to process the possible consequences of such information.

_Judging by Astrid and Ruffnut reaction earlier, he clearly was killed for that picture of me. And I can assume that it's more than likely Helheim's Gate. But why would they be after a picture of me? The footage at the bank and all the pictures that people took every time I saved someone ever since should have been more than enough for whatever they needed it for. And if they wanted some more they could just have hidden cameras at the ambush, it just doesn't make sense._

While Hiccup's was reeling on the possibilities, Astrid was surprised by Hiccup's sudden reaction. He was acting as if he recognized the victim.

_Weird. Why would he suddenly recognized the guy? Did he know more than he told us?_

But Hiccup was too deep in his thought to notice Astrid's suspicions.

_Why this picture in particular? What would be so special about it? Then he suddenly realized. The wound! They are probably looking for it to know what could have wounded me. They won't learn much about that on that picture but they might saw something much more interesting. If they found that picture it is more than likely than it'll show that I have a peg leg! That's real bad news._

Astrid and Ruffnut noticed that his deep reflection has finally came to an end and pressed him to know what he learned.

"So? What did you discovered?"

Quickly he invented an explanation that could be credible. He decided he would go with the truth, just not the complete truth.

"As I presume you guessed that picture is likely to be why the victim was killed. I strongly suspects Helheim's Gate to be the one wanting it. If I were to guess I'll say that they must have heard that he got a picture of Night Fury wounded and wanted to know what wounded him, to see if it was something they could exploit, a weakness maybe."

"Do you think they got the picture?"

"No I doubt it. Otherwise they wouldn't have need to torture the poor guy. It's likely that they went after that friend of his to find the picture. But I don't think that the picture is of any use to us."

Ruffnut and Astrid looked surprised, not expecting him to say that. Hiccup couldn't let Astrid and the others see that picture and he knew the perfect excuse to keep them away from it. But first he needed some privacy. He also noticed the newbies listening to them.

He gestured to Astrid and Ruffnut to follow him in the corridor. As soon they were out of hearing range, he started to explain.

"They are looking for that picture because they think it might exposes a potential weakness of Night Fury. However we already know what caused him to be injured: the explosion at the warehouse and the shard of crate in his leg, that's not exactly a weakness. So the picture is of no use to us but the friend of the victim will undoubtedly be targeted by Helheim's Gate next. We need to find him and put him under protection. And if we're lucky we might even be able to use him to ambush Helheim's Gate. But first we need to find that friend. Leave that part to me, that's my job as a forensic scientist. I'll examine everything there is to analyze in this apartment and contact you if I find a clue on his location. Meanwhile you should try to investigate who came to this apartment last night. It might lead us to some members of Helheim's Gate."

Ruffnut wanted to point out that Hiccup might be wrong about that picture as she began to explain.

"The picture isn't just about Night Fury's wound. I think there might be something else."

"Really? What is it?"

As she was about to tell her and Fishlegs theory she caught the glare that Astrid was throwing at her.

"Err... it..."

Astrid was shaking her head, urging her to shut up.

"What?"

Thinking fast, she tried to save it the best she could.

"It... it might show his face?"

Hiccup seriously considered it for a moment before answering.

"No, I don't think so. Otherwise he would have post the photo on the social media a long time ago. Again I don't think that this photo contains anything major, the priority is protecting this friend before he became another victim. Are we all okay on what to do?"

This time Ruffnut chose to simply shut up and went along Astrid as she nodded.

"Okay then. I'll stay here to make sure I didn't miss anything then I'll find you later at the detective squad if I found anything. Tell me if you find something that might tell us who those guys were."

On this words, Hiccup walked back into the apartment, leaving Astrid and Ruffnut alone in the corridor. He seriously needed to think how he was going to find that friend and get out of this mess.

* * *

It was way past lunchtime at the detective squad when Fishlegs groaned. His back was hurting from after being seated on an uncomfortable chair next to Astrid's desk for too long. They have been at it for several hours already.

"Explains to me again why we are doing that?"

Astrid groaned as Ruffnut interrupted her again with yet another complain.

"Because we're trying to find the guy who took a photo of Night Fury before Helheim's Gate does."

Ruffnut turned on herself in Hiccup's chair as she was seating at his desk.

"Yes I know that. But remind me with we won't leave that to Hiccup? That is job as he said."

Astrid said nothing as she continued crawling through the pages of acquaintances and friends on the social media accounts of Andrew Patterton. For the past two hours, after checking the few contacts found in his apartment, they were trying to find which _"friend"_ of the victim was the one they were looking for through the social media profiles of the victim. They selected only those who were living in Berk and called them one by one to know if there were the one they were looking for. It was an exhausting work and it would have been much quicker if they had his cellphone but it couldn't be found in the apartment. Helheim's Gate probably were the one who took with the same idea in mind. Now the number of contact left to check was getting close to the single digits and still no luck so far.

"And while we're at it, why didn't you let me explain our theory about a possible tattoo or distinctive sign on that photo?"

Ruffnut had ask that question several time already and Astrid always purposefully ignored her. But now even her was feeling tired and hungry and she felt like she at least owe that to her.

"Fine. I'll talk. I didn't want you to tell him about it because he wouldn't be interested in it anyway. You heard him, he immediately dismissed the photo. He thinks that we shouldn't even investigate Night Fury in the first place. There was no point in telling him."

Ruffnut could tell that Astrid wasn't being honest.

"Cut the cr*p. Don't think I don't know when you're lying. I want the truth."

Astrid sighed. Ruffnut was more perspective about a lot of thing than she wished her to be.

"Because he will probably try to dismiss it and prove to me through elaborated reasoning that my idea was stupid. Like he did this morning. And because I was mad at him. And because my guts is telling that he's hiding something from me. And because I ... -I don't know exactly. I just thought a whole lot of stuff and felt that at the moment it was better to not tell him." She looked at Ruffnut in the eyes. "I'm not making any sense am I?"

Ruffnut grinned mercilessly at her.

"Nope."

Astrid groaned as she hid her head in her arms. Ruffnut took pity on her and tried to comfort her.

"But I'm a fervent practitioner of crazy. I think I understood what you meant."

Astrid looked at her strangely, not sure of what exactly Ruffnut understood but she was just glad that she agreed with her.

"Good, so we agree on this. No telling to Hiccup until I said so. Okay?"

Ruffnut merely grinned at her while Fishlegs vigorously nodded. He didn't really understood what was going on but he sure wasn't going to disobey Astrid.

"Good. Now who's hungry?"

* * *

Meanwhile Hiccup was starving in his lab. He barely ate this morning and ever since he realized who Andrew Patterton was, he worked non-stop trying to find that friend of his who took a picture of him and his peg leg. And he still have to make any progress onto who he was or where he was.

He took a risk earlier as he processed all that was brought back from Andrew's apartment at super speed in the lab but to no avail. He then extracted from the database of his suit the footage when he woke up after he passed out in the docks. He took several pictures of the man who stood next to Andrew and finally noticed that he was indeed holding a cellphone in his hand. He used those pictures for a facial algorithm he developed for his augmented reality lenses and compared it to the different database the BCPD had access to. His algorithm used a more efficient method and was quicker as he allocated the resources of different servers he owned to boost the research. As a result he finished processing the 12 databases he had access to in less than 3 hours.

Nothing, that guy was on none of these database. In parallel he tried to apply the same method on the profile pictures of every friends of Andrew on social media but again nothing it came back with nothing. There was no friends that matched the facial structure on that guy. But he wasn't really surprised, nowadays people liked to post photos of everything but them on social media and started to restrict the number of photo available to the public.

Now he was getting really nervous about the whole thing. If he didn't find it fast this picture would end up in a disaster in both the worst and the best case scenario. In one case it would exposed him to Helheim's Gate and in the other to the BCPD and Astrid. He still wasn't sure which one would be the worst case scenario.

For a moment he contemplated the photo of the man who took that picture. Every second brought the same question again and again, almost driving him insane.

"Who are you?"

* * *

Astrid's day so far have been a constant mood swing. She came early in the morning, enthusiast and eager to share an idea she judge brillant only to see it get crushed moment later by Hiccup. Then Ruffnut came along and provided her with a miraculous lead that too got crushed by Hiccup as he announced them the death of Andrew Patterton. But all wasn't lost as they could still try to find the one guy that had what they were desperately looking for. But the more their search went on the less likely it was for them to ever find him, and even so before Helheim's Gate. Together with Ruffnut and Fishlegs, they used nearly all their options and ideas at finding this guy. Their only hope now was that Hiccup would somehow find him with what he took at Andrew's apartment but as time went on it seemed more and more unlikely.

The only thing that was helping her mood right now was the double cheese burger with extra cheese she was eating right now, calories be damned.

Then she noticed Snotlout coming their way.

"Great." Groaned Astrid. "Just what I needed."

Ruffnut followed Astrid's gaze and smirked as she was sure to see some blood pretty soon.

"What's up guys? Babe?"

With a sigh, Astrid put back her half-eaten burger and began to slowly clean her finger one by one.

"You never learn do you?"

"You can't improve perfection. Are you gonna finish that?"

He made a move for the remaining half of Astrid's burger when he caught her gaze. He shuddered as he realized the hand that Astrid had finish to clean awfully looked like it was tightening into a fist. Wisely choosing to take a step back, he quickly tried to change the topic of conversion.

"So what are you doing here Fishlegs?"

Seeing the plea in Snotlout's eyes, Fishlegs put back his pizza and started to explain.

"I'm helping Astrid to find a friend of the murder victim of this morning at this apartment up north. Didn't you hear about it?"

"I think. Some recruits were talking about it earlier. Some nasty business went on there and apparently it involved Helheim's Gate and Night Fury somehow. That's what they heard at least."

"Yes and we think that a friend of the victim has some crucial information and might be the current target of Helheim's Gate. We're trying to find him before it happens."

"Alright. Why Hiccup isn't there helping?"

The atmosphere suddenly tensed up as Fishlegs awkwardly looked in Astrid's direction.

"He's ... busy searching in his lab." She answered emotionlessly.

Fearing he might have step on a mine, he tried to change the subject and awkwardly asked.

"So who was he?" Seeing that Fishlegs didn't understood of who he was talking, he added with a hint of desperation. "The victim?"

"Oh! Yes, his name is Andrew Patterton, a dock worker with no criminal records."

Snotlout looked puzzled as he tried to remember where he heard the name.

"Andrew Patterton. Why does the name sound familiar?"

Fishlegs turned his laptop in his direction to show him a picture of him.

"Oh! I recognized the guy. He was the crazy drunk that wouldn't shut up when I came in the morning. I remember his name because I had to process his release that same morning. No officer was there when I came expect only Tuffnut sleeping in a corner who looked quite sick and some dude who was there to bail someone."

"That's great Snotlout but that doesn't help us one bit." came the voice of Ruffnut as she was eating some fries.

Snotlout ignored her as he looked at the name on Fishlegs computer.

"Have you try that guy Eric Walkers? He was a pal of his."

Astrid frowned as she looked at the name that Snotlout was pointing on the screen.

"But the guy doesn't live here. It says here that he lives in San Francisco."

"He must have not update his profile because he lives here now."

Astrid looked at him suspiciously.

"How do you know that?"

"Because he's the guy that bailed out that Andrew fella. I released him in his custody."

"Are you sure?"

"Certain."

"Fishlegs do you think that could be him?"

"Snotlout might be right, he didn't update his profile since 2010. He says in there that he's also a dock worker working for the same company than Andrew. Let me check if he is in their employee record."

Astrid tried to not get her hopes up as Fishlegs was checking but it could be the stroke of luck they needed.

"There. Eric Walkers. 32 years old living in Berk since 2012 at the apartment complex Roosevelt on the 150th and Roosevelt boulevard."

"Do you have a number?"

"Yes let me try it."

For a long minute nothing was said as the phone was ringing. After a moment Fishlegs hang up his phone.

"Voice mail."

He then tried to dial the number of his home phone.

"Nothing. I immediately get to the voicemail."

"Alright it's enough for me. Let's go check it!"

Immediately Fishlegs and Ruffnut followed suit after Astrid as she moved to the door.

"So I did good?" asked Snotlout.

Astrid found it quite funny how he timidly asked with puppies eyes. She let a small smile stretch on her lips.

"You did perfect, you were just what I needed."

* * *

Meanwhile Hiccup's day kept getting worse. Not only did Astrid managed to stumble upon two serious trails that could lead back to me but he also didn't manage to find the one person that could expose to the world that Night Fury has a peg leg. He exhausted every way he could think off to no results. He wasn't in any database and the different fingerprints in the apartment belong to different relatives of Andrew Patterton but none that were the one he was looking for. And to to make things worse, for the last two hours he ran all over town as emergencies necessitating the help of Night Fury kept popping in completely different part of Berk.

In the last hour alone 5 emergencies happened: a family was stuck in an elevator with a bomb threatening to go off in the next 10 minutes in a populated area at rush hour. There was no way that the bomb squad would have been there on time so he had to run there to disarm it. As soon as he disarmed the bomb a call on the radio alerted him that a emergency vehicle on his way from the airport transporting an organ for transplant had all his tires blown off at the same time and was stuck in traffic at the opposite side of Berk. 5 minutes after he dropped the organ at the hospital, another call signaled him of a mad driver on the highway in a high-speed pursuit with the police about to enter the downtown area. He ran there and saw the car moving at high speed between lanes being chased by four police car. There was no way they would catch him in time. Running at the same speed as the last police car he knocked on the window of the car to attract their attention. Once the officer seating on the passenger side pulled out his gun he extracted him from the car and put it in the passenger seat of the fugitive car facing the criminal. It took quite a toll on his arms but the officer managed to force the criminal to comply and stop the car in time. Finally twenty minutes later he had to stop two jumpers threatening to kill themselves from an office tower at nearly the same time at two opposite part of the town again. He arrived in time to stop the first one but by the time he arrived at the second one he had already jumped.

He only got a split second to make his decision and he knew he only got two options: the risky option or the bold one. He could either try to estimate the speed fall of the jumper, calculate the height at which he could catch him, broke a window and grab him as he flew by. That was the risky option as many thing could go wrong: he could do the math wrong, he might not find the right window, the guy might fall too far from the window, he might not have the strength to catch him especially if his arms wasn't enhanced by the Speed Force and all kind of other things could go wrong. Or he could try the relatively safer but never-tried-before plan: running up the building.

Theoretically it should work. With enough speed he should be able to make use of the light friction he get from the building to make another step fast enough before he slipped and so on. The only problem was he didn't know at which speed he should ran for it to work as it depends on the material used in the building and condition of the surface of the building. He also had to keep in mind to maintain his speed on his way up but also on his way down down or he will fall too. He preferred not to think about it as it was too late for doubts now. It was sink or swim.

As the crowd that had gathered split from the infamous scream of the Night Fury, he ran faster that he had ever run before in the direction of the wall. Those gathered in front of the tower only saw a line of purple electricity going up to the side of the building before inclining in the direction of the jumper and finally curbing down to reach the ground in front of the officers charged with keeping the crowd away. He walked to the nearest officer and let down the man he was holding in his arms.

"There you go officer. Take care of him."

A torrent of flashes erupted and he could see every phone turned in his direction as they either filmed him or took a picture of him. Feeling awkward at being the center of so much attention, he quickly ran away. But slower this time. He was pretty sure that most people here was still recovering from how high-pitched and loud the sound of his helmet was when he ran up the wall. Maybe next time he wouldn't need to run that fast. He would need to experiment later.

After that last minute rescue he spent the last half-hour _"leisurely"_ running around Berk in case something else happened. But he received no emergency calls whatsoever apart from small usual incident that the BCPD could perfectly handle on their own. As he was about to head back to his lab, Terrible Terror signaled him that he was receiving a call from Astrid on his regular phone.

"What does she want?" He stopped in a small empty park, hidden from sight by the trees. "T.T. accept the call."

"Hello?"

"Hiccup? It's Astrid. I need your help."

He could hear a hint reluctance when she said it. He guessed that she made no progress and was calling to know if he made some in finding the friend of Andrew Patterton.

"I still haven't find the guy with the picture of Night Fury. I'll need more time."

"No it's not about that. We've found him, his name is Eric Walkers. But there's some problem that's why we need you. Can you come here as soon as possible?"

A cold sweat ran down Hiccup's spine.

_She found him! How? Did she saw the photo? Did she suspect me already? What kind of problem is there?_

Trying to keep himself from panicking, he did his best to keep his voice as neutral as possible.

"Sure. Where are you?"

"Apartment 34 of the apartment complex Roosevelt on the 150th and Roosevelt boulevard."

"I'll be right there."

* * *

**End of the chapter for now ^^**

**Don't worry I won't let you hanging there. I first wanted to publish a gigantic chapter for the one year anniversary (~12K words) but I didn't managed to finish correct myself in time so I decided to cut it in two. The next chapter will be out tonight or tomorrow morning once I finished corrected it.**

**The person that usually correct me got some problem in the form of a fried computer and is still unable to help me. So those last chapters might have more mistakes than usual but if you see something that you want to correct you can go to the link on my profile page description to correct it and I'll update the correction on the fanfic later.**

**I really wanted to thanks the enthusiastic reviewers who post really reviews for the chapter 17. It was really great, thanks!**

**And finally I was asked what was the timeline exactly and I realized that I didn't kept a good track of the timeline. So I read the story from the start and established a proper timeline. There is the timeline of the main events :**

**Wednesday 12th February - Robbery at the bank of Berk  
Thursday 13th February - Hiccup save Astrid as he was testing his new helmet  
Friday 21st February - Hiccup and Astrid busted the warehouse full of grenades, first encounter of Helheim's Gate  
Saturday 22nd February - Hiccup got ambushed by Helheim's Gate  
****Monday 24th February - Hiccup and Astrid agreed to a fresh start  
****Saturday 1st March - Astrid made a deal with Night Fury  
Tuesday 4th March - Incident at Cadmus Labs and Hiccup explains the Speed Force  
Wednesday 5th March - current chapter**

**There I hoped it's clearer to everyone. See you at the next chapter! ^^**


	19. Chapter 19 - Tension, again

**Hiccup in a Flash, chap 19**

**I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or its characters, just merely borrowing the character for an adventure of my own.**

**As promised the second chapter of the day.**

**Please enjoy yourself with this fanfic ^^**

**\- Chapter 19: Tension, again**

* * *

It hasn't been 5 minutes since Astrid called him when Hiccup passed through the door. The first thing that he noticed was that the place had been completely trashed, not a corner had been left unturned. He could safely assumed that the apartment had been thoroughly searched. In the middle of the living room stood Astrid, Ruffnut, Fishlegs and for some reason Snotlout.

"What happened here? Did you already search the apartment? Where's Eric Walkers?"

Astrid was the one to answer as the other were looking around while trying to not touch anything.

"He isn't there. He either ran away or got caught by whoever did this." She gestured at the room. It was clear who she was thinking could have done that. "It was already like that when we arrived. Someone beat us to it and search the place. They were very thorough and meticulously search every room. How did you get here so fast?"

"I was in the neighborhood. How did you find him?"

Astrid frowned but didn't push it.

"Snotlout found him for us. He was the one that bail out the victim when he was arrested for the night. When we tried to call him we got no answer so we decided to come directly and found this."

"That's why he's here?" Said Hiccup as he gestured to his cousin.

"Yeah for some reason Snotlout decided to join us."

"Well it's not every time that you said I was perfect babe, I thought I might give the occasion to say it some more. And not to brag but I know more than one way to make you say it."

The lustful expression of his was more than enough to make Astrid want to puke. She would gladly teach that moron what she thought of his proposal but decided against. She got a better idea. She faced him with a warm gentle smile that sent shivers to Snotlout.

"I'll love that Snotlout but I have to warn you. I tend to express my affection in a very physical way." She cracked her knuckles to accentuate her point. "Do you want me to express my gratitude for your tender offer?"

Snotlout nervously rubbed his arm. He could feel his arm bruised again just by watching Astrid.

"No that will be okay Astrid."

"Good. So where was I?"

"About to explain why you didn't told me that you find the guy? That'll be a good start."

Hiccup wasn't impressed by Astrid's show and was pretty mad. He kept his tone light but Astrid could feel some anger behind it.

"What do you mean?"

"Gee I don't know Astrid. Maybe I just thought that you would inform your partner of major information like finding the guy that said partner already told you that he was actively looking for. Because after all it was his job to do to that kind of research. Speaking of such, how went the job you were supposed to do by the way? Did you find some witnesses or clues or anything about the men that came to kill Andrew Patterton?"

Hiccup could feel the frustration accumulated during the day accumulating grow exponentially but did nothing to contain it. She just never listened. He asked her several times today to search for leads on Helheim's Gate or rumors or theories or anything that could bring them closer to taking back the Speed Force they stole. And every time she just did the opposite and went to chase after Night Fury instead. Enough was enough.

"I sent some officers talk to the residents to see if they seen anything. I have yet to receive their report but..."

"Oh good, officers! I'm sure with their high experience and vast knowledge in investigation the case is as good as solved." The sarcasm is in voice grow thicker as the anger built up in his mind. "How about your sources? Did you ask them about any changes, any rumors, any movement that Helheim's Gate might have made now that they possess the Speed Force?"

"No but..."

"Then I'm sure you at least tried to do anything to locate the Speed Force they took? Or Eret maybe? You were pretty mad at him. I'll even be happy with any member of Helheim's Gate."

The acidity of his tone clashed with the smile on his face. No one has ever seen Hiccup that angry.

"No."

"Wonderful! When you find some time in your vendetta make sure to let Helheim's Gate know that there is no need for them to keep a low-profile as it seems no one is looking for them. They might as well go nuts with the most powerful energy source ever known to mankind. What a productive day you had!"

Astrid wasn't about to let Hiccup chew her out like that without fighting back.

"At least mine has been productive than your day!"

"I beg your pardon?"

"At least _I_ accomplished something today. What have _you_ done? You criticize me but have you accomplish anything today apart bickering like an old rag? My guess is it should be pretty close to nothing! If I had let the search to you as _you_ suggested it we wouldn't be here. We would have with no clue at who we are looking for, who is after him or why. You bet your ass that I didn't listen to you because need I to remind you that _you_ have to listen to _me_ and not the opposite. I'm the detective here and you are the nerdy geek lab with no experience. Stoick, your father, appointed me as the lead in this partnership. I got to call the shots on what we should be doing. And you have to believe it was with reason seeing that, contrary to you, I brought something to this investigation. I made progress."

"Because so far I contributed in absolutely nothing in this investigation. Sorry if I didn't think that _this_," he gestured the room around him " was progress. We're nowhere closer to find him. He's either hiding as far as he can from here or he's already been tortured and killed by Helheim's Gate. He could be anywhere now, alive or dead."

"That's why I called you here isn't it? So you can find out where he is, after all you said yourself, it is _your job_."

Noticing that she scored a point, she walked to the door, shoving violently Hiccup out of the way.

"Where are you going?!"

"To do _my job_."

* * *

Ruffnut looked at Astrid sideway for what seemed like to be the hundredth time. Ever since they came back to the detective squad hours ago, Ruffnut kept staring at her for some time before going back to her work. So far Astrid tried her best to ignore her but now it was driving her crazy.

"What?!"

"Nothing" answered Ruffnut nonchalantly while looking back at her computer.

"Ruff, don't play dumb with me. You kept looking at me ever since we came back. You obviously has something to say. What is it?"

She seemed to think about it for a second before closing her laptop and facing Astrid.

"Fine if you insist." She started right off the bat with the burning question. "What was all that?"

Evading Ruffnut's gaze, Astrid suddenly found the previously boring report absolutely captivating.

"What was what?"

"Now who's playing dumb?" sermoned Ruffnut. "You know exactly what I'm talking about."

Astrid sighed. She knew she wouldn't get away with it. Not one to back down from a fight she defiantly looked Ruffnut in the eyes.

"What?! You didn't expect me to take all that sh*t without saying anything back did you?"

"No I didn't. What surprises me was the under-the-belt punches. Normally you never invoke the who's in charge in a argument. And saying that he didn't do anything in the investigation? The guy that pretty much discover all there was to discover so far?"

She had tried to not think of all the things she said before as to not feel ashamed but now there was no stopping it now.

"He didn't discover all of it."

Ruffnut looked meaningfully at her.

_I definitely said too much._

Groaning she supported her head with her hands.

"I went too far didn't I?"

"_"Stoick, your father, appointed me as the lead in this partnership."_? Yes I think so."

It did nothing to help the sinking feeling in her stomach.

"I did invoke his father." groaned again Astrid. "Why did I do that?"

"Beats me. Hiccup looked pretty mad after you left. He threw us out of the apartment almost immediately after, saying that he needed space to do _"his job"_."

Groaning once more Astrid seemed to sunk even deeper in her hands.

"But I think my favorite was _"I'm the detective here and you are the nerdy geek lab with no experience."_"

"It such a mess. And we just made a deal to do a fresh start. Why did I say that?"

"You made a deal?"

"Yes, the week after the warehouse exploded. He ambushed me, I kick his ass and we promise to start anew in this partnership."

Ruffnut eyebrow grew slightly higher.

"He ambushed you? And he's still alive to tell the tale?"

"Yes but it doesn't matter anymore. I pretty much ruined it. He just drove me so mad you know?"

Ruffnut had a sympathetic look for Astrid.

"I hear ya. All that sarcastic questions of his made me feel so guilty while I wasn't even the one receiving it. I can't imagine what it must have been for you."

"Terrible if you need to know. And getting mad at him and saying all that stuff didn't help either. I just didn't know what else to say."

"Well now that we're clear that you kind of screwed up, what are you gonna do?"

Astrid finally looked at Ruffnut again.

"I don't know. Honestly. What do you usually do after denigrate your partner, described him as a nerdy geek, played the superiority card by calling his father and basically told him that I didn't give a rat ass about his opinion?"

"How about you try to calmly talk to him? You know with that stuff called patience."

Astrid snorted.

"Yeah because we already establish that is my forte."

"Look who's being sarcastic now." grinned Ruffnut. "But seriously you should go talk to him. I won't insult you by saying that you should go apologizing to him but at least try to correct things and maybe acknowledge that you might said thing that you shouldn't have."

Astrid groaned. "Do I have to? Can't I just punch him really hard in the face and hope that he forgot all about it?"

Ruffnut smiled at Astrid's joke. It was rare that she made one. Usually she was all business with little to no fun except steaming off at their favorite bar. But ever since Hiccup became Astrid's partner, she seemed to a bit more sociable and approachable. She smiled more easily, was more open with her emotion and definitely using a lot more sarcasm. Before there wasn't a day without Astrid exploded in anger at the detective squad. Mostly because of Snotlout once more tried to hit on her but also colleagues that talked to her in a bad day. Her sudden fit of anger was known from all the Police Plaza and even some cops in other districts. Now, even she occasionally snapped at Snotlout, she generally was more composed and more lenient. The best proof was that she didn't mangled Snotlout for his depraved comment earlier. Instead she used threats in a refreshing way.

_Maybe that partnership isn't all that bad._

"I'm pretty sure that it won't work. The only he would forget something like that would be if you jammed an axe in his head. But if you're gonna try that, let me just grab my camera."

Astrid had a fond smile at Ruffnut proposal. She was always one for the most drastic measures. She really was a great friend.

"It's tempting but I think I'll pass. I need to this alone."

Astrid reluctantly stood up from her chair and threw one last look to Ruffnut.

"Wish me luck."

"I'll say break a leg but be careful he only has one left."

Shocking her head in disbelief, she headed for the forensic lab the heart somewhat alleviated.

* * *

The lab was empty at the exception of Hiccup. Looking at her watch she saw that it was already 7:48 pm. Hiccup was still hard at work as she expected him to be. He was manipulating some evidences, looking for trace of fibers and organic tissues or anything that he might have miss. He looked the same as always but somehow today he seemed unapproachable. Not once did he looked in her direction as she walked to him and Astrid tried muster the courage to start the conversation but never managed to. After a long moment of Astrid watching him work came out the dry voice of Hiccup that resounded across the lab.

"Something witty to say about my job?"

_Ouch! That's ought to be a promising start._

"No. I came with a peace offering."

She showed the bag of foods that she was holding.

As she was going to Hiccup's lab earlier she realized how late it was and thought it might be easier to have a civilized conversation if she brought some food. So she quickly ordered some good Chinese takeout that she knows and had it delivered to the Police Plaza.

Shortly examining the bags she was holding and gestured her to seat next to him as he made some space on his desk. The bags were rapidly opened and they began to eat silently. After a long minute of neither of them talking, she decided to try some small talk.

"I didn't know what you liked so I took a bit of everything."

"I'm surprised you cared to consider my opinion."

_So much for small talk._

If she had any doubts about Hiccup still being angry she was now fixed. Hiccup silently grabbed the soy sauce and began to eat his rice. But she knew it wasn't going to be easy and Astrid tried again to start the conversation.

"I looked at the report the officers made after interrogating the residents of Andrew Patterton building. No one saw anything or notice anything unusual."

"I'm sorry that my suggestion was a waste of your time. I'll hate to be in the way of all the progress you make."

His face stayed neutral as he kept looking at his food, not once making eye-contact with Astrid.

"Touché. I deserved that. I said thing I shouldn't have. The day has been quite tiring for me and I know that I ignored what you asked me to do-"

"Several times." He still made no eye-contact, as he grab a spring roll.

She took a small breath in. It won't be an easy conversation.

"I ignored you several time. I got mad at you for sermoning me like that and I snapped. I shouldn't have said that you didn't contribute the investigation and that I didn't have to listen to you. You're my partner and I should have take into consideration your suggestion. Finding Eric is your area of expertise and it was logical to leave that to you. And I shouldn't have brought your father. For all that I'm sorry."

Astrid was slightly out of breath when she finished and tensely waited for him to reply. But the only sound she heard was the sound of Hiccup still eating. For a long minute, Hiccup didn't say anything and didn't even show a sign that he heard Astrid's apology. The tension in the air was getting too thick for Astrid to breath when Hiccup finally spoke.

"Why?"

The tone was still far from his usual warm and friendly self but at least that dryness that made Astrid feel so uncomfortable. He was willing to listen to her, that was a good sign. With a renewed energy she tried to press him more.

"Why what? Why I said all that stuff? I told you, I got pissed and snapped when I should have-"

"No. Why did you ignored what I asked you to do? Why were you so hell bent on finding Eric Walkers that you couldn't trust me to find him?"

For the first time since Astrid entered in the lab, Hiccup looked at her. She didn't expect the intensity that radiating from the green of his eyes. It was the most serious she ever saw him.

She gulped nervously as she tried to find her words.

"Because he..." she was about to tell him the lie she prepared, that she thought that Eric Walkers was in danger and needed to be find as quickly as possible but the seriousness that transpired from Hiccup made her stop. She couldn't lie to him, he was her partner, he deserved the truth.

"Because I think that the photo of Night Fury he took contains elements that would help identifying him."

Astrid thought she saw something strange pass in Hiccup's eyes but she couldn't identify what it was. Undisturbed, Hiccup asked her a question.

"What make you so sure?"

"A theory that Ruffnut shared to me. She found that the distortions on the footage given by Night Fury was unnatural and she asked Fishlegs about it. He agrees with her, according to him it Night Fury may have voluntary corrupt those part of the video to hide something. From the moment the claymore exploded, the footage was corrupted every time Night Fury looked at his right leg. I remembered seeing when we made the deal that there was some tears on his costumes on his left leg from the shard of wood that pierced him but also that there was some on his right leg too. So my guess is that the explosion pierce his costume on both legs but the hole on his right leg made visible something that could identify him. Something like a tattoo or a birthmark. I think that he tried to cover that up but the picture those two workers took might show us what it is."

Hiccup felt his throat becoming suddenly a lot drier than a few seconds ago. And it wasn't because of the food. Trying to remain calm he asked.

"Why didn't you tell me about it?"

"Honestly? I don't really know. Maybe it was because I was angry at you for telling to not look after Night Fury. Maybe I don't want you to disprove another of my theory. Maybe I want to chase it by myself. I can't really say. It might be all of it at once."

Frankly he was a bit angry that she didn't tell her but he was way more worried that she find out that he altered the footage of the warehouse.

"How sure are you about that theory? Don't you think that it could be a waste of your time?"

Astrid looked at him with more energy and conviction than she did since she entered the lab.

"I'm willing to bet my career on it."

Now Hiccup _had_ to find that Eric Walkers guy first and destroy that photo for good. It just became his number one priority. Before he could start working out some plans for it, he needed to ask a question to Astrid. As crucial as this information was it wasn't what he wanted to know.

"Even if you're right and that photo could help identifying Night Fury, why are you pursuing it that badly? You're clever and you know that Helheim's Gate is ten times more dangerous than Night Fury. Why are you so determined in pursuing him?"

"I told you. I think that we should have something on him in case-"

"No, Astrid. That's not it. It goes much deeper than that. It's like... you're obsessed with catching him, like a vendetta. You became way too driven when it comes to Night Fury, always trying to arrest him while you now that he does good. Why is that? Why must you catch Night Fury?"

For a moment Astrid said nothing as she thought about explaining it or not. Hiccup could clearly see the conflict that was running in her mind. Whatever her reason was, it looked like it was something that she couldn't easily tell. Like it cost her a lot to even consider telling about it.

Hiccup said nothing and continued to eat, simply waited for her to reach a decision. As he finished eating some dumplings, Astrid finally spoke again.

"I- I never told anyone before. You can't tell anyone. You have to promise me that it won't leave this room."

Hiccup nodded and waited. Astrid took a large breath in before she speaking again.

"I suppose you heard about the Black Hood gang?"

"Yes. It's the gang that you arrested by yourself while you were tailing Dagur the Deranged. You got found out and started to exchange fire. You managed to kill eleven of them and arrested the last four all by yourself. This arrest managed to stop the gang war between the Berserkers and the Outcasts. Everyone in the BCPD knows about it, it was the case that made you a legend."

"Yes." Astrid darkly nodded "But that wasn't exactly what happened."

"What do you mean?"

"The first part is correct. I was tailing Dagur and some of his men and followed him to a meeting with the Black Hood. He was trying to force them to ambush a meeting of Outcasts' leaders on Christmas in retaliation for the attack the Outcasts conducted on Thanksgiving. He killed one member of the Black Hood on his way there and I knocked another while following him. However that came back to him late and made me be discovered. I killed him as he charged me and started to ran after Dagur. I killed several others and injured another but Dagur got away and the Black Hood was breathing on my neck. I had to ran and hide to save my life and killed some more. In the end I thought I had them all and got careless. I got trapped wounded and out of ammo by the leader of the Black Hood and two of his men with only my knife left to defend myself. I had no escape and the reinforcement were close but still too far. I honestly thought that I would died there and then. I thought that if I were to die here I should at least take one of them with me. It was one of the most helpless moment of my life. I never felt that powerless before but I already decided that it was worth. At least I would have died making the world a bit better with slightly less scumbags in it. And then.."

Astrid made a small stop as she prepared herself to reveal something that she never shared with anyone before. It was something always kept to herself as one of the weakest moment of her life. If it would have been any of her previous partner she wouldn't even consider telling it but somehow she knew that she could trust him. She didn't really knew Hiccup for long but she could tell that he was someone that could keep his promise and not judge her. Taking a small breath in she continued with a renewed resolve.

"And then as I came out ready to throw my knife in the leader's throat, I saw him."

Hiccup knew where this was going but still played his part.

"Who?"

"Night Fury. He wasn't dressed in his suit as we know it. He was dressed in the most ridiculous christmas outfit I ever seen with what looked like an handmade christmas pull-over, a blue scarf and a red woolen hat. I only saw his eyes but I now know it was him. It could only be him."

"What happened?"

"When I came out he had already taken out the last remaining members of the Black Hood and saved me from certain death. I couldn't believe my eyes that I was actually going to live and stupidly just stared at him. Before I regain my senses and could talk to him he simply disappeared."

Astrid stopped talking, reliving in her memories that day. The moment she thought everything was lost to the moment where everything changed for her. Hiccup didn't want to disturb her but after a long minute of silence he finally asked.

"So you hate him because he saved you that day?"

Astrid broke from her memories loop and looked at Hiccup again.

"No it isn't anything like that, I do not hate him. At first I wasn't even sure that he really was there. For a long period I thought it might just have been a hallucination or an angel because nothing else made sense otherwise. I have heard rumors of a vigilante doing seemingly impossible feats and cleaning the streets of criminal but like everyone at that time I dismissed the possibility as a false rumor. A superhero with superpowers helping the weak and the orphan seemed a too much tall tale to me. Then a few weeks later everything changed."

"The footage with the kid."

"Yes. January 10th, exactly a week after I have been rewarded by the Commissioner and the Mayor for my arrest of the Black Hood gang, the video of a man running at impossible speed after saving a kid came out and was on every channel. Pretty soon he had his own name: Night Fury. At that point every piece fitted together. He was no hallucination or angel. He's been the one that saved me and he's been at it for months, acting in the shadow with powers that defied all common sense. After that video came out he started to help cops too when they were in a difficult position and pretty much everyone talked of him as a superhero, one that was helping the weak and helpless."

She pronounced the last words with some bile in her mouth as if those words were burning her. She took a small breath before continuing.

"They said that he was helping the weak, those that were ... incapable, incompetent. Failures. At least that was what some at the BCPD started saying as they mocked the cops who has been saved by Night Fury. All the while praising me as an example, a badass detective that didn't need anyone help to arrest a whole gang by herself. It hurted so much to know that it wasn't that badass detective, that me too was also saved by him. That I was weak and incompetent too. A failure."

"Astrid you're not..."

"I know." cut Astrid. "And I thought I knew it too at the time. But my pride was too much wounded and seeing everyday that reward on the wall that I didn't deserved made it all the worse. I needed to try to regain my honor; proved to the others and to me that I wasn't an incompetent but the model detective they said I was. When a week later Stoick asked if someone was willing to investigate that vigilante I immediately volunteered. It was my chance to prove to all that I deserved my place as the most competent detective of the BCPD. Then for 3 weeks I interrogated every informants I knew, I investigated every trail I could find but to no avail. I couldn't even prove if the guy existed or not. Then came February 12th and the robbery at the Bank of Berk that evolved in a hostage situation. The situation was pretty bad and promised only to go even worse when he came. He appeared and, in front of all the camera of the world, he resolved a 7 hours stalemate situation in less than 10 seconds. Not only did he prove that he actually existed and that is power were real but he also proved to the world that we were incompetent. That I was incompetent."

Hiccup felt uneasy at that part. He knew he could have tried to solve that hostage situation a bit more discreet than he had. He may shouldn't have dropped the robbers outside the bank and stood there for all to see but at that time he seemed to him to be a good idea to show to the police that the robbers were neutralized and that he was no threat. That he came to help. But it incidentally made him the sworn enemy of both Astrid and his father.

"When the next day Stoick assigned you as my new partner to investigate Night Fury I saw it as a demotion, a punishment. I thought that he found me incompetent and couldn't put his trust in me anymore. That's why I was so mad at you when we first met. I'm sorry about that, you weren't for anything. But then you being ... all that," said Astrid while designing Hiccup for a lack of a better word, "didn't really help at making me less mad."

"You do know that you gestured to all of me?." grinned Hiccup. "It must been all that raw detectiveness that have deeply disturbed you. Apology accepted and appreciated but go on."

Astrid shook her head in amusement as she saw the loop side grin of him that she grew to be fond of. He seems to always be able to amuse at the most incongruous moment.

"Very funny. But I'll try to not let that raw _"detectiveness"_ as you call it disturb me anymore. So where was I?"

"Explaining how me being your partner was a punishment."

"Yeah that. I was pretty pissed at the time and to make the humiliation worst, the same night I was saved again by Night Fury from a band of low-lives that wanted to rape me while I was too drunk to defend myself. If it weren't for him I wouldn't want to think what would have happen to me that night."

She fought back a small shudder as she recalled all the horrendous cases she worked on where the victim had been violated for days before being killed and thrown away in the bay.

"But as grateful as I am for him to save my life twice that was too much for my pride. It may sound stupid and vain but it was as if he went out of his way to prove to me that I was indeed weak and incompetent. That I'm just a helpless woman needing his gallant prince to save her everytime she's in trouble. A failure."

Hiccup could feel some strong emotion built up in Astrid's voice but she stayed strong as she always was as she continued her story.

"I didn't want to ever feel as incompetent as I did at that moment. I worked hard to arrive where I am and I won't let anyone deny it to me. I'm not weak, I'm not incompetent and I will prove it."

She looked at Hiccup straight in the eyes, determination blazing like the sun from her gorgeous sky blue eye, her voice vibrant and solemn.

"At that moment I swore to myself that one day I'll catch Night Fury even if it is the last thing I do. I'll prove to all that I'm not a failure but the best damn detective that Berk has ever known."

Hiccup didn't know what to say. Now he understood. He always knew that Astrid was a prideful person that tries to do her best in everything she does. Confident in her abilities, she was always up for a challenge and to better herself. Always fully expecting to come out on top of every difficulties. But he didn't realize how his actions as Night Fury have attacked her pride and undermined her confidence in who she was. He only thought that she was running after Night Fury because she saw it as her duty but her reasons were way more profound than that. She needed to catch Night Fury to feel complete, to be herself again, to be who she always been: a strong-willed woman that didn't need anyone to succeed and the best detective of the BCPD.

_That'll make things complicated._

While Hiccup was trying to process all that new information, Astrid continued to talked.

"And as much as I came to appreciate Night Fury, I'll still pursue him. I believe that he is genuinely trying to help, a rare good man with a heart in the right place. But I can't just let him be, I need to arrest him, I need to do that for myself. That's why when I saw that opportunity to finally found out who he is with that photo I may got obsessed with it. I know that I should have investigate what you told me too but I just couldn't let it go. Again I'm sorry but I just couldn't. And when you accused me of not doing my job, it made feel incompetent again and it just made me mad."

Hiccup was now seeing their previous fight in a completely new light.

_Well that make sense. Of course she'll get mad if I attack her discernment in her job like I did. It's really a wonder that she didn't react even more violently than she did._

It was clear now that he's been lucky to get out of that apartment without a few serious injuries. But what was even clearer is that things will get very complicated if she still felt herself obliged to arrest Night Fury. First he needed to convince her that it wasn't the way to go if they ever want to stop Helheim's Gate one day. She just couldn't aim solely at Night Fury.

"Astrid you really don't have to..."

But he was interrupted as Astrid's phone began to ring. Annoyed she went to turn it off when she saw the caller ID.

"Trader Johann? What does he want?"

She apologetically looked at Hiccup who signed her to answer. Promptly she picked up the phone and answered.

"Johann what is it?" Hiccup couldn't perceived what he was saying but it sounded urgent. "What? Wait- No! Johann just- Okay, okay I'm coming. Just stay there and calm down. I'll be right there."

She hang up and turned to Hiccup.

"Sorry it's Trader Johann he wants to see me immediately. Apparently it's urgent."

Not needing anymore to be said he took his coat and turned to Astrid.

"Let's go."

* * *

**There, chapter finished! I hoped you enjoyed it. For my part I loved writing that last dialogue. I hope that it explains better attitude until now and why she was so obsessed why Night Fury.**

**So that's it for the one year anniversary! I wanted to try something else but I'll reserved it for another time.**

**I don't know when will be the next chapter but I'll try to not take too much time.**

**Thank you for reading my fanfic!**


	20. Chapter 20 - Spaghetti at midnight

**Hiccup in a Flash, chap 20**

**Sorry for the long wait! Lately I have been engrossed in reading Light Novels to improve myself and there was so much good stuff to read that I didn't had time to write. I hope that you will enjoy this new chapter ^^**

**I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or its characters, just merely borrowing the character for an adventure of my own.**

**Please enjoy yourself with this fanfic ^^**

**\- Chapter 20: Spaghetti at midnight**

* * *

"By Loki's frozen balls! I do hope that he has a very good reason to call me that late."

Astrid was jumping from one foot to the other to keep herself warm. Even if winter was coming to a close, the streets were still freezing especially at night. It wasn't snowing anymore but a large portion of the snow hasn't melted yet and she was now standing in a pile of dirty snow as she waited for Johann to finally showed up. He called her an hour ago and she already waited 15 minutes for him to show up. To make thing worse she was starving.

"Thor, I should have take that Chinese take out with us."

She was quite hungry before as she didn't finished neither her burger nor her fries for lunch and spend hours trying to find anything that could lead them to Eric Walkers. After that she didn't touch her diner as she ended up telling way more than she planned to about herself to Hiccup. In the end they left immediately after receiving Johann's call and neither of them thought to take the rest of the food with them. Hiccup has eaten some of it earlier so he wasn't that hungry for his part so he could only have a sympathetic smile as her stomach growled again.

"If you want..."

But he was interrupted by Astrid as she noticed that Trader Johann finally arrived.

"Johann The Trader. It's better be damn important for me to be out that late in that cold."

"Oh it is Lady Astrid! It is. I wouldn't bother you otherwise but I came across the most shocking news and knew that I needed to inform you at once."

"What is it then? What are those shocking news?"

"Lady Astrid, you know that some of my friends made more mistakes than most? They may have their different with the law but they are nonetheless outstanding and very interesting persons."

Astrid rolled her eyes. As if she had any doubt about what kind of person were Johann's _"friends"_.

"Sure."

"As a matter of fact, some of them are finding themselves in a somewhat tough position and may be ... forced to be engaged in some reproved activities."

It wasn't like Johann to struggle to find his words. He looked somewhat nervous. It hinted to Astrid that he may have some real information, something that might justified her freezing and starving here that late at night.

"What activities? How are they being forced?"

Johann looked even more nervous than before, glancing nervously around him.

"It might be a bad idea after all..."

"Johann… I'm hungry, I'm freezing and it's freaking late. Do you really think it is the moment to test my patience?"

If her tone was anything to judge by, it was way too late for him to draw back. Knowing he won't escape his fate he tried to explain it quickly without his usual lyricism.

"Helheim's Gate is now controlling most of Berk's gangs and has the lion's share in every deal that happens in the city. Most of the criminals in Berk now answers to them and they forced every criminal in Berk to execute whatever they planned to do tomorrow. If they didn't had anything planned they must do some petty crimes and random extortions. All in the same day, for all day long."

_That's rare. Johann is cutting to the chase. It's kind of disturbing but pleasant._

But the pleasantness of Johann current way of speaking did nothing alleviate the heaviness of what Johann just told them. If every criminal in Berk will engage in crime all at the same time they risked to create a massive panic in all over Berk.

"Why?"

"Apparently they need money. Large amount of it."

"Again why?"

Johann looked once again around to make sure that no one was listening.

"I tried to dig around a bit but I couldn't come up with much. All I know is that they recently acquired something of incommensurable value to them and they need large equipments and funds to exploit it."

"But why are they forcing all of the gangs to act the same day? If they don't had time to finish their plans won't that make them fail? They would be better off to wait for the gang to finish their business and collect on it." asked Hiccup.

"You're right lad. Normally that would be the case but it isn't anymore because of Night Fury. Ever since he went public and he started to act more openly all around Berk and the number of criminals that successfully managed to pull of something plummeted. As soon as someone reports that you are doing something illegal, you need to give up and run immediately because Night Fury arrive right next to you in seconds. Most of the criminals never did anything sophisticated as they are confident in their strength and firepower. They didn't fear the police all that much. But guns are irrelevant with Night Fury and a lot of them got caught by him."

"So their plan is to what? Overwhelm both Night Fury and the police by sheers numbers?" Astrid couldn't really believe that someone would actually consider it a viable plan.

"Precisely. It might be crude but they believe it would have a better chance of working. They made some tests to verify if it would work."

"Tests?" frowned Hiccup. He didn't like the sound of that.

"Yes, all conducted today. They tried to test Night Fury's limits and staged a series of situations requiring Night Fury's intervention all around Berk."

Immediately all those emergencies that kept appearing this afternoon came to mind to Hiccup. The bomb, the exploded tires of the ambulance, the high speed pursuit, the suicides, he knew that it couldn't be a coincidence that all of them happened on the same day.

"Those incidents they staged all of it?"

"It seems like you know what I'm referring to lad. Yes, they did and apparently they came up with a conclusion. Night Fury has his limits and can't be everywhere. He nearly didn't make it in time to the last suicide attempt. And while he was running to all of those that attracted both the police and Night Fury, they managed to successfully conduct a series of small robberies in opposite part of town. Even if they lost several men they concluded they would earn more than way. Now-"

"- they planned to reproduce it at a much larger scale tomorrow." completed Astrid as the horror of it sank into her.

_It will be utter chaos._

"Exactly Lady Astrid. I thought you would have wanted to know about it."

"If they really go ahead with it, we risks a mass panic. That won't be pretty" Hiccup voiced out loud everybody's thought.

"But what can we do about it?" complained Astrid.

They had no way to stop it. Not if by some miracle they manage to arrest every criminals in Berk between now and tomorrow.

"Not much I fear Lady Astrid. Our only hope is that tomorrow Night Fury will be faster and better than Helheim's Gate estimates him to be. But we have no way to warn him."

Astrid kept a poker face but didn't miss Johann's last words. Their only hope might very well be in Night Fury. She'll need to contact him and fast.

She looked at Hiccup to make sure that he too didn't show signs that they have a way to contact Night Fury. He looked a bit tense but otherwise he showed no exterior signs that he knew something, effectively playing along Astrid. Satisfied she turned to Johann knowing it was time for them to leave. There was much they needed to do before tomorrow.

"Thanks for the info Johann. I appreciate it, really. If you have nothing else to add, I fear that we must go. We don't have much time before Helheim's Gate's attack."

Johann looked relieved that his part was over. He nonetheless met Astrid's gaze with a fervent look.

"Of course Lady Astrid! I understand perfectly, don't mind me. It also happens that I have places to have to be. I wish you good luck, you might very well desperately need it."

Then with a small salute, Johann disappeared in the shadows.

Astrid turned to Hiccup who seemed to be lost in thoughts.

_No doubt he's using his massive brain to try and find a solution. But I'm afraid this time there isn't much you could do. Only Night Fury might be of some use but even him might not be enough…_

She quickly shook her head to chase her dark thoughts away. Now wasn't the time to be pessimistic.

"Look Hiccup. We can't do much more here. It's getting late and you should probably-"

"Astrid." She was rudely cut off by Hiccup as he looked strongly. Under such a heated gaze she could do nothing except listen to him. "Come to my place."

* * *

Astrid was mindlessly stroking Hiccup's cat with the odd name of Toothless while she observed Hiccup in the kitchen. She didn't expect him to invite her to his apartment so suddenly. Even less that she would agree and that Hiccup would start cooking dinner for her. She appreciated that he wanted to cook for her but now really wasn't the moment for that, she really had to plan something for tomorrow. Well technically today as it was past midnight since 13 minutes ago.

Ever since they left the meeting place with Johann, she tried hard to think of a plan against Helheim's Gate, anything that could help them at all. But her brain came up empty as she ended mindlessly letting Hiccup guided them to his apartment. The only thing she could think of right now was to contact Night Fury and hope that as Johann said he'll be faster and better than ever.

_Once again I'm counting on him in desperate time. Will he even contact me back? Last time when I called him at Cadmus Labs he never answered or showed up._

But she wasn't one to give up so easily and she will get him to help them even if she had to harass him all night on the phone. But first she needed to leave. She thought that Hiccup asked her to come because he had a plan but for the last ten minutes he said nothing as he was busy in the kitchen. Apparently he brought her here because she complained she was hungry before. It was sweet but she didn't have the time.

"Hiccup. I should really-"

"Bolognese or carbonara?"

"Huh?" She looked blankly at Hiccup who was examining the content of his fridge, turning his back to her. She didn't understood what she was asking her.

"Your spaghetti. Do you prefer it bolognese or carbonara?"

Astrid looked at him quizzically. "What are those?"

Hiccup looked to her, an eyebrow arched as he couldn't believe she didn't know what he was talking about. But he made no comment as he gently started to explain.

"Bolognese is your classical spaghetti. Meatballs, tomato sauce and some garlic and basil. Carbonara spaghetti are spaghettis with diced bacon, diced onions, sour cream and grated cheese. Preferably parmesan. Normally you should add a raw egg at the end but personally I don't do it and rather cook it with some white wine to give a sweet flavor to the onions."

"Hiccup I don't have time for you to cook for me. I must contact-"

"I already boiled the water. Either would take me 10 minutes tops to do it. Besides judging by how your stomach growled all evening I doubt you'll last much longer if you don't eat. It would be even more unlikely that you manage to do some constructive thinking in that state."

Astrid suddenly stood up from her chair, dropping roughly Toothless on the ground, not wanting to hear more of it. He knew he was right but her heart could rest if she did nothing. She made a mistake coming here. Determined, she said a last thing before turning to the door to leave.

"I must find a solution. Something, anything to make the situation better. I don't know what I'll do but I need to do it now. It's already late and I don't have much time left. I can't waste more of it."

Hiccup stayed perfectly calm as she watched Astrid getting worked up. Her face was showing clear signs of exhaustion and stress. He stopped before she leave the room.

"I know. I might have a plan for it."

Astrid looked at him so fast that she felt a little dizzy. But it was nothing compared to the small flickering of hope she felt in her heart.

"You do?"

She didn't dared to hope for much but her mind was clouded with thought as she feeling more and more lost. Maybe Hiccup was right, she was too exhausted and no longer capable of constructive thoughts.

"Yes."

His tone was firm and vibrant of conviction. Without knowing she suddenly felt more at ease and walked back to her chair. Somehow she was feeling hungry again. Gently she sat down on her chair, waiting for him to speak.

"So?"

She looked at him quizzically, not understanding what he was asking her. Why was he interrogated her? She was the one that wanted to ask him that.

"Bolognese or carbonara?" nonchalantly asked Hiccup.

Astrid inwardly groaned. He probably won't tell her anything until she agreed to eat something.

"Fine. Carbonara."

"Good choice."

She watched him take out ingredients from the fridge and grabbed some spaghetti in a closet above the kitchen. If she were to be honest with herself she was a bit curious about carbonara spaghetti. She never tried it before. She think that she saw it in some italian restaurant menu but never ordered it. She ate bolognese spaghetti before as her father regularly made them at home and it was always delicious, at least when she was 12. It wasn't her favorite food but definitely in the top ten. Although her father just called it spaghetti.

While she was remembering fond memories from simpler times, she smelled the familiar smell of bacon being fried as Hiccup poured the diced bacon and onions into a buttered frying pan next to the spaghetti getting cooked. She had no idea what it would taste like but it couldn't be bad if there was some bacon in it. Then, after letting fried for a few minutes, Hiccup poured the white wine in it. The smell was absolutely tantalizing and unknowingly Astrid began to drool a bit.

To her surprise Hiccup started to talked. He's been silent for so long that she thought he would only spoke to her after he was finished.

"Judging from what Johann said I think that there is more to Helheim's Gate's attack that he told us."

Bringing herself back from a world of delicious smells she focused on what Hiccup told her.

"You think he didn't told us everything."

Sure Johann was someone who liked to keep a few cards in his hands but he seemed genuinely scared and wasn't acting like he usually does.

"No I think he told us all he knew. I don't think he lied to us either. However I think he got Helheim's Gate's goal for this attack wrong."

For a few seconds he said nothing as he was stirring the spaghetti. Astrid let him take his time before explaining what was on his mind.

"I have been thinking back about those tests that Helheim's Gate have done with Night Fury today. I followed everything he did today closely and something does not match what Johann told us."

She was a bit surprised. He got mad at her for investigating Night Fury instead of chasing Helheim's Gate and yet he was the one that kept close tabs to Night Fury's activities. But she lost the opportunity to complain as he continued to talk.

"If Helheim's Gate goal was to simply test Night Fury's limits in speed and reaction time why were there such a gap between each test? Each time there was a minimum of a ten minutes gap before the next test at the exception of the suicide jumpers. That last one was a real test of reaction and speed, no doubt about it. But the others? I don't buy it."

"Then what were they?"

"If they really wanted to test how fast he could react and run they would orchestrated all of them at the same time. I think they were tests but not of speed and reaction. There was testing something else"

She was now intrigued.

"What kind of test was it?"

"Johann partially gave us the answer. He said: _'And while he was running to all of those that attracted both the police and Night Fury, they managed to successfully conduct a series of small robberies in opposite part of town_._'_"

"You remember word for word what he said?"

Hiccup quickly dismissed her.

"I got a good memory. But what's important is the last part of what he said. They conducted robbery at the opposite side of Berk when Night Fury was dealing with the incidents they staged. That means that they synchronized some robberies with when Night Fury appeared. I think that it was the real goal of those tests."

"So they're not testing if they could overwhelm you but trying to see if they could make diversions?"

"Exactly. I think that those tests were to see if they could match some specific operation with Night Fury's movement. They were tests to see if they could bait Night Fury somewhere so that they could make their move to specific place at the opposite side of town. They were testing the limits of how much of a window of opportunity they could get that way."

"What do you think they were testing?"

Hiccup added the sour cream to the frying pan.

"I don't know, it should be all kind of thing. How fast does he react to an announcement on the police radio? How long do they have before they lost track of him again? What kind of call does he respond to? Could they predict his movements and know from where he would go next? How long do they have before they got noticed and Night Fury came to see? There is all kind of variables and informations that could interest them for what they are planning."

"So what are they planning?"

The spaghettis were ready and Hiccup took them out and emptied the water.

"I think that Johann was right when he said they needed large amount of money. They probably need a lot of funds to purchase the equipment and material necessary to exploit the Speed Force. But I think money is not their real goal, they have better way to acquire it despite what Johann said about Night Fury greatly reducing the number of criminals. If they do such a large operation it's probably because they need specific thing they can't buy. Maybe some unique lab equipment or extremely rare materials. Either way they creating all that chaos just to obtain those items. It must be extremely important for them and they can't risk screwing up. If it is just creating havoc to steal that stuff they would need those tests. On the contrary they risked making us mefiant and losing the effect of surprise."

"Then why did they made such tests?"

"Even if they create chaos to help them steal what they need there is still a risk that I'm nearby and accidently found them. They did those tests to be sure of the window of opportunity they would get if they lure me somewhere to be sure that I won't interrupt them. All that planning is for that one window of opportunity where they'll know I can't interfere. I don't know what they are planning to take but it must be extremely important for them. They need it badly and they need it fast otherwise it would have been more prudent to try to take it discreetly."

Astrid nervously gulped nervously. She was already nervous before but she felt that the stakes for tomorrow just kept on getting bigger and bigger. She was afraid that pretty soon she would completely in over her head.

"We can't let them have it. No matter what it is they must not put their hand on it. I have no idea how we'll do it but we'll stop them. Luckily you said you had a plan right?"

Hiccup gave her a plate with a knife and fork while he poured the carbonara sauce onto the spaghetti.

"Yes. But we'll need the help of my father."

Astrid wasn't expecting that. Hiccup always fervently opposed telling anything to Stoick in the numerous time they argue about whether or not letting Stoick know, especially once they knew about the Speed Force. And now he wanted to go to him? She said nothing as she sense that there was more to it coming.

"I'm listening."

With a small smile, Hiccup served in her plate the carbonara spaghetti.

"Alright while you eat and can't interrupt me I'll explain to you my plan."

She eyed him suspiciously while her stomach was grumbling a little when she smell the carbonara spaghettis in front of her.

"Did you time it so that I can't talk while you explain your plan?"

Hiccup gave her a lopsided grin that made her stomach contract with nothing to do with the delicious smell.

"Maybe."

Rolling her eyes she gave up and started to silently eat her plate. And as she was listening to another crazy plan she somehow felt lighter in her heart as she let herself pull along the delicious food and warm energy of Hiccup's voice. Maybe tomorrow won't go that badly.

* * *

**I know this chapter is rather short but I felt that it was a good place to stop for now. Let's start again slowly. Normally I read myself but it was a bit late so they might some mistakes.**

**But don't worry! I already wrote most of the next chapter and mostly need to read and correct myself and add some parts at the end. Normally you should hear again from me soon.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thanks for the reviews and follows!**


	21. Chapter 21 - Global mobilization

**Hiccup in a Flash, chap 21**

**Sorry for the wait, my computer was in repairs for a few days and when I started to correct my chapter I ended doubling the size of it ^^**

**Anyway I hope you'll like it. About last chapter's mistake I wrote an explanation at the end of the chapter.**

**I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or its characters, just merely borrowing the character for an adventure of my own.**

**Please enjoy yourself with this fanfic ^^**

**\- Chapter 21: Global mobilization**

* * *

Snotlout never liked waking up early in the morning. He could sometimes reluctantly accept to get up quite early in the morning when he really needed to but now was way too early for his standards to already be at work. If Astrid wasn't the one who had call him late last night to ask him to come, he would have refused, even if it was Captain Sven.

With a loud yawn, he entered the detective squad a little before 5am. He expected to found maybe one or two persons but to his surprise the whole squad was already there, bursting with energy as everybody seemed to be running around in a frenzy. He had trouble to open a path for himself to the coffee maker. It looked like every officers was gearing up and were ready to go immediately after a quick brief by Captain Sven and his father.

If he had to judge by the look on everyone's face, the situation must be quite serious. And it wasn't just the detectives. On his way up he saw all the officers in full gear being brief by the different captains. He even noticed that the SWAT's vehicles parked in front the Plaza. The last time he saw so much activity in the Police Plaza was when the president came visiting for a few days three years ago.

He noticed Fishlegs and the twins near him with Tuffnut sitting on his chair.

"What's going on?"

"I don't really know," answered Fishlegs. "Astrid called us without explaining why and Sven didn't want to tell me anything and told us to wait for Astrid's instructions."

While he was a little disappointed that he wasn't the only one she called, he was still curious as to why there was so much activity happening at the BCPD.

"So she called you too." He seemed to realized something. "Do you think Astrid called everybody else too?"

Ruffnut snorted at the question.

"Yeah sure. She doesn't have the authority to call them on official business and she sure as hell she didn't called all of them on a personal favor. Its' not like Astrid knows that many people. She never was much of a social person."

"Totally sis. She's not much of a social person, she is more like a burrito at _El Mexican Casa_."

Even if Tuffnut was his best friend Snotlout had no idea what he meant. He looked at Fishlegs but he too had no idea what Tuffnut meant either.

"What does she have anything to do with that restaurant?" asked Ruffnut. "It's just terrible and the only thing they served is burrito. And it tastes terrible. It's like the freshest burrito they ever served was at least ten days old."

"Exactly!" Proudly exclaimed Tuffnut. "She's tough on the inside _and_ the outside. Just like the burritos of_ El Mexican Casa_."

"Oh! Nice one Tuff! I totally should have get that. " complimented Ruffnut as she bumped her fist with him.

Fishlegs gave up trying to understand the twins. He never understood Tuffnut and he won't start to make sense now. He decided to ignore them and turned to Snotlout.

"To answer your question: no, Astrid didn't called them however I think she called all of us for the same reason as everyone else. But it is likely we'll do something different. When I called her earlier, after Captain Sven told me to wait for her, she told me that she would explain it later. She said would be here around 5. It should not be too long now."

"So none of you knows what's going on?"

The twins shook their head in negation but Fishlegs fidgeted a bit on his chair. Snotlout knew that look, he definitely knows something.

"Fishlegs?" asked Snotlout with a threatening tone.

"Alright, alright! I know a little but we should wait for Astrid"

Snotlout glared at him and as usual, Fishlegs easily caved in.

"Ok. Astrid didn't tell me anything but I heard a bit from some officers that I know. Apparently they all got called by Stoick's order. I couldn't get much details but apparently Helheim's Gate is preparing for something huge."

"Helheim's Gate?" Snotlout couldn't help but be a bit apprehensive. "Last time we ran into those guys it wasn't pleasant, we almost all died. I sure would hate to face them again."

"Sadly knowing Astrid we might-" but Fishlegs was cut off by his phone as he received a text message from Astrid.

"What's that?"

"It's Astrid. She went us to meet her in the dojo."

"Man! Is it really time for some more training?" complained Snotlout. "Last time I had bruises for weeks."

"I don't think she want us to train." remarked Ruffnut.

"Then why are we meeting her there?" asked Tuffnut.

Fishlegs was also a bit intrigued by the choice of the meeting place but didn't let it bother him.

"Let's go. We'll know soon enough anyway."

* * *

So far things went a lot smoother than she expected.

Last night Stoick agreed to meet her and Hiccup despite the late hour and immediately began to move along her plan. He was a bit skeptical at first but he nonetheless believed her and mobilized nearly all the BCPD's force. She didn't tell him it was in fact Hiccup's plan but Hiccup told her it was better if he thought it was her plan. She doesn't know exactly how is the relationship between Hiccup and his father but it didn't seemed really good. The atmosphere was a bit awkward when they greeted each other. They weren't hostile or tense around each other, it was more like they didn't how to interact with one another. But she didn't dwell on it as there was way more urgent things.

She didn't tell Stoick the whole plan, only the part that the BCPD would have to play. Astrid knew that he'll never agree to parts of that plan and explaining other parts would require to explain her current cooperation with Night Fury. So she lied to Stoick about what she thought was Helheim's Gate's aim. She didn't like to lie to Stoick who has always been good to her but she didn't have a choice. Nonetheless she was grateful to him that he let her be able to act independently of the mobilization of the BCPD's forces and that he let her have full authority over Snotlout and the rest of the gang. It was the point that she feared the most as it was absolutely essential to their plan but surprisingly he agreed without needing a full explanation about why she needed them.

Afterwards she met with Night Fury.

She called him as she left Stoick's house. He didn't answer and she left a voicemail. She hoped it won't be like that time at Cadmus Labs when she called him and he never showed up. She feared that once again he would ignore her. But surprisingly, after she dropped Hiccup at his apartment, she found Night Fury waiting for her at her doorstep. Then followed a rather interesting discussion between them but that's a story for another time.

For the moment she needed to concentrate on her immediate problem: asking for the cooperation of the rest of the gang. Even if Stoick gave her full authority they had the right to perfectly refuse to go along her plan as it sure was something that Stoick didn't approved.

Despite the early hour she found them all present and waiting for her at the dojo. Even Snotlout was there despite the fact that he hated getting up early in the morning.

"Good you're all here."

"As you've asked." answered Fishlegs. "So what exactly are we doing here? I assumed it has something to do with the mobilization of the rest of the BCPD."

But Snotlout interrupted Fishlegs as he issued a complain.

"I hope that it isn't for some more training. Because I'm telling you right away I'm not doing it."

Astrid simply irked an eyebrow at Snotlout's vehement tone. Sensing he was playing with his life right now, he quickly backed away and tried to change his tone.

"Not that I'm not always ready for more training or anything!" Quickly backpedaled Snotlout. "It's just that it wouldn't feel right if something major happened to rest of the BCPD and they need my help and I would be here simply training."

"Simply training? Alright Snotlout, I'll remember that the usual training is too simple for you that you're eager for more. Don't worry I'll make sure that it will be a bit more challenging next time, just for you."

Snotlout gulped in fear as he try to respond. "N-next time? So not right now right?"

He knew he talked too much but if he didn't have to do it right now, Astrid might forgot about it. It sounds unlikely but right now it was all he had.

Astrid observed him shake in his boots, like a predator observes a prey that knew what might be awaiting him. Honestly she really didn't call them for training and they just don't have time for it but seeing how Snotlout was trembling made her seriously thinking about doing at short sparring session to teach Snotlout a thing or two about respect.

Sadly she really doesn't have time for that. Sighing inwardly, she reassured the trembling Snotlout.

"Yes Snotlout, not now right now. I didn't call you for training." With a serious expression she faced Fishlegs. "I suppose you already have an idea of what is going on."

"Y-Yes. From what I gathered Helheim's Gate is about to do something big real soon and Stoick called every men available. However I have no idea what Helheim's Gate is going to do or what is Stoick's counter measure for it. If I were to guess as you're the one who called us here and not Stoick or Sven, I figure you have a different assignment than the rest of the BCPD and need our help. So what are we going to do?"

Astrid nodded at Fishlegs' analysis. As usual he got almost everything right.

"I guess we will be able to do it quick as you already said most of it. Hiccup and I learned that Helheim's Gate is about to unfold a major operation on Berk today and we went to inform Stoick. I'll tell you what I said to Stoick and what we'll be doing, but first…" she quickly checked out her watch. "Sh*t! I'm out of time. I'll explain everything but first you have to promise me that you won't freak out."

It was rare to see Astrid panic like that. Fishlegs had a bad feeling about it but he nonetheless silently nodded as did the twins. Unsurprisingly only Snotlout took it lightly.

"Pfff! Astrid, have you never met me before? This guy right here never freaked out before. I'm like a cold blooded man with nerves of steel."

Snotlout started to do his usual bragging again. Normally Astrid would put him back to his place but _he_ would arrive soon. She needs him to not freak in the next minutes. It would take way too much to burst that big ego of his so she tried for once to play along with him.

"Right Snotlout. How could I forget? You definitely have nerves of steel. But now you have to promise me that you won't start to shoot everywhere blindly no matter what happened."

_Why would Snotlout start to shoot everywhere?_ Fishlegs didn't understand why Astrid would ask that of Fishlegs but his bad feeling kept getting worse.

"Of course! Who do you take me for? Fishlegs? Contrary to him I have nerves of steel and an unshakable mind. I promise you that nothing will freak me out."

"So you won't try to shoot without hearing me out first."

"Of course babe!"

Before Astrid could protest at him calling her babe once again, a deep foreign voice came out from behind them.

"I feel very much reassured. What a manly confidence!"

Hiccup found it difficult to not make his voice betrays his sarcasms as he couldn't resist the opportunity to tease Snotlout.

Surprised, all four of them turned over in the direction of the voice but they couldn't believe what they saw. Standing by the door, leisurely leaning on the wall, not minding the fact that he was standing in the middle of the BCPD HQ was Night Fury.

Like one man, they all reached for their gun. Only Fishlegs didn't grip his gun as he stopped his hand in midair. Ruffnut gripped her gun but didn't take it out as she remembered Astrid's warning. Tuffnut took out his gun but it was more of a reflex than because he felt threaten. Keeping his cool he kept his gun pointed to the floor as started to admire Night Fury's suit. He had to admit it looked wickedly cool. But if it was up to him he would have make it a bit more intimidating, with something like a yellow skull or some blazing flames. However he couldn't choose if he would have put it on the helmet or on the torso. Maybe both.

And finally there was Snotlout who completely forgot his promise to Astrid. He took out his gun and aimed it to Night Fury and frenetically pressed the trigger. But just as he was aiming it at him there was a small blur where Night Fury stood and next thing he knew his gun was no longer in his hand. Dumbfounded he looked stupidly at his hands before checking his holster. His gun was still there. He must have failed to take it out and he must have looked like an idiot. Swearing out loud for his mistake he tried to once again reach for his gun. This time he make sure he gripped his gun correctly only for the same thing to happen as he aimed his gun to Night Fury and once more jerked his finger on empty air. Not understanding what was happening he did the only thing he could and once again tried to reach out for his gun. But this time he was stopped by Astrid who took away his gun and smack his head loudly.

"You moron! What did I just asked you not to do?! I thought you were a man with nerves of steel who never freaks out or was it some mindless bragging again?"

Snotlout was confused at what was happening. He didn't understand why Astrid was mad at him. First Night Fury suddenly appeared before them then some mysterious phenomena made him unable to take out his gun. Why was Astrid now stopping him from arresting Night Fury? Maybe she didn't see Night Fury. Snotlout tried to tell her.

"B-b-but it's him! Him! It's Night Fury! We must arrest him!"

"I know it's Night Fury you idiot! That's why I ask you to not freak out! Is your brain just for show or do you actually used it sometimes?! Don't you remember that we told you that for the moment we are working him? He agreed to help us against Helheim's Gate that's why I asked him to come! And you!" she pointed an accusatory finger to Night Fury. She was mad at him as she saw him silently appearing behind Snotlout and purposefully waited for the right timing to freak him out.

"Couldn't you have waited for me to talk about you coming here before ticking them off?! What would you have done if he managed to shoot and made every cops of the BCPD come here?!"

He merely shrugged. "That's why I stopped him every time. And even if he somehow manage to use his gun I would be gone long before anyone could have make it here."

Astrid let out an exasperated sigh.

_Sometimes I really wonder if he exists for the sole purpose of messing with me._

She knew he perfectly capable to do what he said but that didn't stop her from grumbling. Yes no one except them would have saw him but then she would have end up with the awkward task of having to explain to everybody why Snotlout opened fire in the dojo. He would have left all the troubles to her.

"You could have waited that I told them before going in." tried to reply Astrid

"Would you rather have me waiting outside the dojo for everyone to see? I'm sure that a lot of the detectives here would have love for me to just stand there. That would save them the trouble of looking for me."

Night Fury's sounded calm and cold but she clearly see that smug bastard's smile under his mask. For some strange reason, she started picturing the lopsided grin of Hiccup. One would found it funny to imagine the face of the weak, cute and amusing Hiccup on the body of someone radiating such authority and charisma. It would be like picturing the head of Puss in Boots on the body of the Terminator.

_No, not the Terminator. He's way larger than Night Fury. No, it would be more the head of Puss in Boots on Tom Cruise's body. Yes, that's about the same amount of weirdness._

But the weirdest part was that Hiccup's head on Night Fury muscular shoulders didn't seemed that strange. It looked almost natural.

She quickly shook her head to chase that thought.

_I must really be tired if I start imagining such insane stuff._

"No, you're right it was better for you to enter but I would have prefer that you keep your mouth shut while I was prepping them. And there was no need to make fun of Snotlout. You provoked him purposely. And don't say you didn't."

Night Fury kept silent, acting as if he didn't know what she was talking about but she won't be fooled. She noticed that for some reason Night Fury seemed to enjoy making fun of Snotlout. She first saw it when they were trying to ambush him with Stoick. Every time they tried to charge him and Snotlout made a bragging claim beforehand as per his habit, Night Fury would always go out of his way to taunt him, as if to purposefully disprove his claim.

_Does they have some history? Is he someone Snotlout knows? Or is he someone Snotlout knew? Maybe in high school or college._

But she kept that thought for later. She promised to Hiccup that she won't investigate Night Fury anymore. At least until they solved that mess with Helheim's Gate. But after this was done she sure would investigate it.

"Let's forget it for now, we won't get anywhere like that. I'll make the introductions. Everybody, I believe you noticed but this is Night Fury. Night Fury this is Snotlout, Tuffnut, Ruffnut and Fishlegs." When each of their name was called they salute him in various way. Snotlout glared at him, Tuffnut greeted enthusiastically, Ruffnut smiled at him with a dangerous light in her eyes while Fishlegs nodded with a bit of shaky legs.

Hiccup found it weird to be introduced to people that he basically knew his whole life.

"Finally there is my partner Hiccup that isn't here for the moment but he should join us later."

Astrid finished the introduction of her team to Night Fury. Hearing Hiccup's name reminded something to Fishlegs.

"Where is Hiccup exactly? I found it strange that he wasn't here while you called the rest of us." asked Fishlegs. He thought he was with Astrid but apparently he's not.

"Pfff… Who cares about my nerd cousin? I bet he just doing some nerd stuff somewhere."

Astrid completely ignored Snotlout's remark as she answered Fishlegs.

"He's busy prepping the material we'll need later for our joint operation with Night Fury."

"Joint operation?!" asked Snotlout in a strangled voice. "We'll be directly working with him?"

"That's so cool!" yelled Tuffnut. "What will we be doing then? Blow up some stuff that belongs Helheim's Gate?"

"Are we doing pairs? Because I wouldn't mind pairing with hot stuff over there." said Ruffnut looking at Night Fury. Hiccup had a hard time to suppress the chill that went down his spine.

"Why would we blow up stuff? And no Ruffnut, no pairing. And Snotlout, yes we will be directly working with Night Fury; that's what a joint operation means. Now if you would all calm down I'll start explaining the mission to you. But first Snotlout, will you stop glaring to Night Fury already? And Ruffnut stop trying to flirt with Night Fury."

Ever since Astrid made the introduction, Ruffnut has been moving dangerously closer to Night Fury, her hands trying to reach and caress his arms. At Astrid's cold warning she clicked her tongue and moved back near her brother, very much to Hiccup's relief. She pouted a bit but send another suggestive look at Night Fury. This time he didn't suppress the cold chill.

Sensing that she better hurry before Ruffnut tried to kidnap Night Fury, she started to explain the current situation to the rest of the team.

"Here's the situation: last night I got contacted by one of my informant who told me that Helheim's Gate managed to unify most of the criminals in Berk but as a result they are a bit low in funds and needs to make some quick cash fast. As a result they urging every criminals in Berk to take part to their large scale operation: all criminals in Berk are to do whatever crime they could today at the same time. Criminals activities has been on the decline recently thanks to the BCPD and, even if we don't like it, thanks to Night Fury." her reluctance to admit it was very clear on her face. " His ability to be present a few seconds after a distress call made most of the criminal in Berk unable to successfully carry out their activities. So to make up for it Helheim's Gate plans to go with quantity over quality. They are forcing every criminal in Berk to do what they do best today to try and overwhelm Night Fury and the BCPD. A lot of them would be arrested but in the end they would a better chance of success than how they usually did. And to be sure that it will work they tested Night Fury's reactions yesterday in a series of incident they manufactured. Or at least that's what my informant told me."

"So it was all because of him?"

"Wow! Today gonna be so fun!"

Fishlegs let out a small groan while Snotlout and Tuffnut shouted at the same time.

Ruffnut noticed Night Fury and Astrid exchange a look. There was more to it.

"But that's not all isn't it?"

Astrid nodded with a grave expression.

"Unfortunately yes. I told to Stoick exactly what my informant told me but after discussing with Hiccup and Night Fury last night we agreed that Helheim's Gate definitely got another goal."

"So you think they aren't just after the money?" asked Fishlegs

After silently listening up to that point, Night Fury began to speak up.

"If they really were trying to test me yesterday to see if they could overwhelm me they would have proceed differently. Rather than creating incidents one after the other, they would have made them happening all at the same time. It make no sense for them to do them consecutively. Last night Astrid shared with me her analysis of the events and I agree with her. Helheim's Gate was trying to test my speed limit and response time to those different events. They wanted to know which incidents made me react and how fast I could get there and how long it take for me to solve them. It is very likely they did those tests so that they can lure me somewhere when they are going after their real target."

"Real target?" asked Snotlout.

This time it was Astrid who answered.

"Our hypothesis is that they need some specific materials and equipment to use the Speed Force they got from Night Fury and they will try to take it today. It is likely that it is something unique or rare that they can't get the regular market. We can't let them take it. If they succeed on getting their hands on it and start to exploit the Speed Force there is no telling how bad things will get."

"Indeed, we better avoid that scenario." agreed Fishlegs. "But isn't it a bit risky for them to do it so openly even if they can lure Night Fury somewhere? If it is something they really need, isn't there be a better way to get it? With such a large scale operation they'll definitely attract attention on them and they can't completely erase the risk of the BCPD or Night Fury finding them."

"It's a good question Fishlegs. Our guess is that it is likely that there is a safer and more discreet way for them to get it but it would take too long for them. They probably want to be able to exploit the Speed Force as soon as possible and decided to try a faster method. Of course they're taking some precautions."

"What kind of precautions?"

Astrid was surprised that Tuffnut was still listening to her but nonetheless answered.

"With the tests we talked earlier, they measured precisely the limit of the ability of Night Fury and the pattern of his actions. They want to be able to predict his every move and make sure he won't be anywhere near them when they are going after what they want. With the chaos they provoked everywhere in town there would be no one to stop them."

Fishlegs could guess where that discussion was going.

"I suppose it is where the joint operation with Night Fury came in. You want to throw off their predictions."

"Exactly. Today it is more than likely that at every incident they generated there would be several spotters from Helheim's Gate who would be there to report when Night Fury arrived and when he is leaving. Helheim's Gate will use those reports to sync their actions with Night Fury's movement. As long as we managed to mess up the timing of their previsions of Night Fury's movements we should be able to stop from getting what they want."

Ruffnut didn't seemed convinced that it will manage to stop Helheim's Gate.

"Are you sure it would be enough? If they can't predict Night Fury's movement they might just all well try their luck even if they aren't sure that Night Fury can't stop them."

This time Night Fury answered Ruffnut.

"Yes it will be enough. If they are doing such a bold operation it's because whatever they need will be really important for them. They can't risk it if they aren't 100% sure to get it."

"Why? If it is that important to them they might get desperate and just try to take it no matter what."

"I can't guarantee it at 100% but I strongly think that they still won't risk it. Even if that delays them a bit, they are ought to do another try another time rather than forcing their luck. Because worse than being delayed, it would terrible for them if I stopped them and learned exactly what they are looking for. As things stands right now they have no way to stop me, they can only try to divert my attention from what they are doing. If I was to know exactly what they wanted and started to actively guard it, it would be hundreds times more difficult for them to get their hands on it. And if it is something unique they might be screwed for a very long time. That's why I think they won't risk ticking me off and act only if they are sure that I can't stop them."

"Makes sense," replied Ruffnut. "But in the end all of this is just suppositions. We can't be sure that they're going to act as you think they would."

"True," agreed Fishlegs. "We don't have any proof that can comfort your hypothesis. Are we sure that you aren't overthinking this and they just want the cash as said your informant?"

Astrid answered Fishlegs' question this time.

"No, we aren't sure of any of that but it is our best guess. We might read them wrong but I'm sure that they aren't just looking for a quick cash. Moreover even if we are wrong, our plan won't get in the way of what was originally planned. It'll just have some more precautions than originally intended."

"Alright, works for me." said Ruffnut. "So what are we doing? We try to look for Helheim's Gate spotters and arrest them?"

"No we can't. We can't arrest them just because they happened to be near a crime. They probably won't interact with the people involved in the crime so we can't prove that they are connected to the crime. Moreover they might use people that does not belong to Helheim's Gate or are not criminals, making them harder for us to spot them."

"Then what are we doing? It's not like we're going to disguise ourselves as Night Fury to confuse them."

"It might actually not be a bad idea Tuffnut." said Night Fury "But no we can't do that because it might work at the start, but pretty soon they would easily know which one are fakes as none of you can run like me. Moreover it would be create some big troubles if the other officers tried to arrest you."

"What then?" angrily asked Snotlout.

"We are going to do the arrests instead of Night Fury. That way they won't be able to track his movements."

"How?" asked Fishlegs. "The reason why Night Fury is a threat to Helheim's Gate is how fast he is able to move somewhere before they can do anything. We can't exactly do that. How are we going to go around it? Do you want to put detectives and officers everywhere in Berk? Is that why you went to Stoick and everybody was called today?"

"It's part of it. But even if every officers and detective of the BCPD are out on the street we can't cover all of Berk. Helheim's Gate knows that and probably already took their precautions against it. With such a large mobilisation of Berk's criminality the information was ought to fall into the ears of the BCPD's informants. Asking Stoick to deploy the maximum of people will limit Helheim's Gate actions but it will not stop them."

It was as Astrid said. Even if all the cops in Berk are out in the field looking for Helheim's Gate they won't be able to stop them. In the first place the plan was design to overwhelm the police force of Berk with a massive amount of criminals.

"It's true that we can't respond to distress calls as fast as Night Fury. That's why Helheim's Gate is confident in its plan. But even if we can't go as fast as him, he can get us there." Astrid pointed to Night Fury who didn't say anything, waiting for her to finish explaining to them. "This is what the joint operation is: we arrest criminals instead of Night Fury and Night Fury helps us moving from place to place."

"Huh?" As one, all of them looked at her as if she had lost her mind. Fishlegs was the first to be able to speak again.

"W-What do you mean by _"Night Fury helps us moving from place to place"_? He's gonna take us all around Berk?"

"Pretty much yeah."

Then Fishlegs calmly asked her, not seeing any other explanation for Astrid's idea. "Are you insane?"

"Listen to me first. Here's the plan: Stoick deploys every detectives and officers everywhere in Berk in order to maximize the surveillance zone and minimize the area in which Helheim's Gate will be able to operate. I asked Stoick to especially watch out for the areas with research labs and equipment factories as they are more likely to be Helheim's Gate's targets. But he can't cover everything and the coverage of areas will fluctuate all day as the patrols will be called to reinforce other patrols who encountered criminal activities. Whenever an area will be cleared of patrols, Helheim's Gate will surely engineered an incident to which Night Fury will be sure to respond. At that time Night Fury will carry one of us near the place that needs help so that we solved the situation for him or that at least we manage to take care of it until some reinforcement arrived. Of course they would be incidents that could only be solved by him like the jumpers from yesterday or the ambulance carrying an organ transplant. Then he would have no choice but to do it himself. But by minimizing the number of scene where Night Fury actually appeared, we might be able to throw off Helheim's Gate's previsions and prevent them to sync their operations with Night Fury's movements. There'll also be times where Night Fury will take us somewhere and would have no choice but solved it. At that time we'll have to take care of the aftermath so that he get leave the scene as soon as possible to keep his movements as unpredictable as possible. It will be a win for both of us and if Helheim's Gate is really just after some quick cash, it'll work just the same except that the BCPD will be the one to take credits for the arrests."

For a long moment nobody said a thing as they all tried to process the crazy plan she just proposed. Obviously some managed to process it faster than others. Unsurprisingly Fishlegs was the first to understood, it wasn't such a crazy plan after all. Just one thing was worrying him.

"That's crazy. Utterly crazy. But it might just work. It's just that-" started to say Fishlegs. His words woke up Snotlout from his stupor

"What do you mean it might work? There is no way it would work! It's just crazy!" exclaimed Snotlout.

Ruffnut had to agree with him.

"I hate to say that but he's right. It's just plain crazy."

"That's what make it so amazing! When are we doing it?"

Only Tuffnut was willing to go with that plan.

Astrid can't blame them. When Hiccup first proposed it to her she also thought that he went crazy.

Fishlegs tried to say what he wanted to say before he was rudely interrupt by Snotlout.

"It is true that we might mess up Helheim's Gate's plan with your plan but there is a lot of things that could go wrong. Moreover many things are still unknown right now. And this plan will put all of us in great danger as we would have to deal with a lot of dangerous situation without any backup all day long. We can't dodge bullets like Night Fury and we will be exposed to situations designed to slow him down. There is telling what we might encounter."

"Forget about that!" shouted Snotlout. "It is not why this plan is nuts! You want _that_ guy," he rudely pointed to Night Fury, "to carry us around town all day long?! There is no way that he can do that! Have you seen the size of his arms? My wrist is thicker than his biceps and you want him to run around Berk carrying us on his back. Never mind me, there is no way that he could lift Fishlegs. He just doesn't have the strength for it!"

Fishlegs and Ruffnut had to agree with Snotlout. Even if Night Fury looked quite fit with some muscles clearly visible under his suit, he just wasn't strong enough. There is no comparing him and Fishlegs or even Snotlout. Even if Ruffnut would be more than willing to jump his tight abs, she might trust him for carrying her or Astrid but she doesn't think he could carry his brother and Snotlout. Let's not talk about the massive Fishlegs.

Hiccup knew that it was a key point of their plan and he had to convince them of it or it will never work. Honestly he can't blame them. If he were in their shoes he was pretty sure that he would have the same reaction. Actually until yesterday, he would have completely agree with them. Even if the Speed Force gave him more muscle and upper arm strength so that he could lift Fishlegs, he didn't think he'll be able to get far with as he would be left completely exhausted after only a mile. But that was before his discovery after yesterday's incident.

Astrid also understood their reaction and she almost said the same thing when Hiccup exposed his plan. But she stopped herself and waited for Hiccup to explain himself. Because if there was one thing she learned ever since Night Fury entered their lives: things aren't always what they seem.

"You should know better Snotlout. You can't apply common sense to Night Fury's power. When you saw him did you also think that he can't run so fast because of the size of his legs? His physical appearance doesn't match the power he possess. Last night I asked him if he could carry us and he told me that he could. That's good enough for me."

Hiccup was touched by the trust she had in him. Both as Hiccup and as Night Fury. Yesterday when he first exposed his idea he expected her to laugh at his face and dismiss him as crazy but she patiently waited for him to explain himself. And later when she asked him as Night Fury, she only asked him once and completely believed his answer. She didn't think that he was just bragging. But even if Astrid trusted him and took him at his words, that didn't mean it was enough for the others.

"And you trusted him?! How do you know that he wasn't just bragging? Personally I think he just a liar that just happen to run a little fast. No way he's that strong. If he were then he wouldn't just spend his time running around criminals all the time."

Hiccup was at loss at Snotlout's mindless reaction. Does his cousin ever thought before he speaks? Does he not realize that Night Fury, the powerful vigilante that can outrun bullets and who ridiculed him at more than one occasion is standing just right next to him?

_He can't be that stupid right?_

Just listening to his cousin was giving him a headache. But what Snotlout didn't know is that yesterday Hiccup discovered something about his powers. Previously when he carried someone to save them from some danger he noticed that he was often left exhausted but he was more exhausted when he carried someone on a short distance than when he carried them on a longer distance. He couldn't understood why and yesterday when he ran up the wall of that building to save that guy who jumped from the rooftop he noticed that after he carry that large guy on a short distance he wasn't tired at all, in fact he barely felt a thing.

At first he didn't realized it because of the exhilaration of running up a wall.

(Because let's be honest, just how cool is it to be able to run up walls? Super cool that's what! Hem-hem sorry I got carried away. )

But the thing is that later on when he was thinking on the events of the day after Johann told them about Helheim's Gate's tests he realized that his powers acted differently than before. Sensing it might be important to whatever he could plan against Helheim's Gate he began to think at what was different from before.

At first he couldn't find anything different. It was unlikely that his powers suddenly evolved as he didn't feel any different. Then he began to think that maybe he was wrong with his initial thinking. Maybe it wasn't the distance that impacted his strength but his speed. As he runs shorter distance he doesn't have time to build up any speed nor does he need to try to. Just running a bit fast was enough to escape from most situation. But when he was running on longer distance he was actually going faster and faster. Now the question was different when he's running faster that when he's not.

Then it struck him like lightning. It was so obvious he didn't know how he missed it before. It was what he showed the other with the footage of him meeting Astrid for the first time as Night Fury: the faster he goes the more concentrated the Speed Force in his body is. As he goes faster he draw more Speed Force into him. It not only strengthen his leg muscles but it also strengthen everything else in his body. His kinetic vision improves, he can process informations faster, it speeds up his regenerative capacity so it is only logical to think that it also improved the global strength of his body. Later that night, after he discussed with Astrid, met his dad with Astrid and met Astrid again as Night Fury, he stayed up all night conducted tests, carrying large bags of cement around Berk at different speed. The results was that the more Speed Force is draw into him, the stronger he get. When he runs at his top speed his physical strength increased up to five time his normal strength. And if he pushed himself past his limits, like he did when he caught the guy who tried to kill himself, his strength increases to 8 times his normal strength. It is not enough to be called an herculean strength but it should more than enough to carry Fishlegs and the rest of the team around Berk.

The best part was that he wasn't getting exhausted running at top speed as the Speed Force also increase his stamina and his physical recovery. However it would be pretty taxing mentally as he would have to keep running at top speed all day long if he wanted to keep carrying the others all over Berk.

But it wasn't the only consequence. As he draw more Speed Force in him, he also leaks out more Speed Force when he's running. When he's running at his top speed a visible purple lightning bolt was following his every steps. It would dissipate quickly but it meant it would be easier for Helheim's Gate to follow his movements. But it was a risk he was willing to take as he could just ran slower when he isn't carrying anyone. And lastly he had to mind something else. If he strike criminals at his top speed he has to be careful of his strength. Even if the enhancement of his strength wasn't enough to be called the super strength of comics' heroes it was still something to not take lightly. If he wasn't cautious it could give serious injuries to criminals. Or even worse. That would be pretty scary.

He knew that he needed more time to explore the full potential of his abilities and learn to control his powers properly but there was no time. It would be swim or sink.

He would have to make the plan works. Fishlegs was right as there was a lot of unknown parameters and many things that could go wrong. He was making Astrid and the others take a huge risk. To mess up Helheim's Gate's timing he could have ran around disguise as an officer so that Helheim's Gate doesn't recognize him but it would have been difficult for him to solve the incident without showing his abilities and he couldn't just delay the criminals until other officers arrived. It would take too much time and he couldn't afford to waste time with all the incident that will require his help. He could also let the BCPD take care of all the incident and only preoccupy himself with those that concerned labs or equipment facilities the likely targets of Helheim's Gate. But he couldn't just let things like that happened around him when he knew he could have helped. It was why he started to help in the first place. Moreover there is also the possibility that he read Helheim's Gate wrong and that aren't after lab equipments or rare materials.

All those thoughts started to make him doubt his plans.

What if Snotlout was right and he can't carry them all day and collapsed in exhaustion, not only risking that Helheim's Gate got what they want but that someone found out who he was as he collapsed onto the ground? What if he's completely wrong and just managed to exhaust himself to no avail? What if he let the others respond the distress calls in his stead only to get them killed?

No! He couldn't afford to have such doubts at that point. Helheim's Gate is definitely up to more than just some petty cash and he would have to do his utmost best to stop them. Astrid and the others are detectives and professionals. They are stopping criminals everyday for a living, they won't be so easily hurt by Berk's criminals.

_But if my cousin is doubtful about me, why not use him to rest both my own fears and his with a small test?_

With a small wicked smile hidden under his masks, he turned to his cousin. He kept his voice as calm as possible as he asked his cousin:

"I said that I can carry all of you and I will. If you don't believe me, how about a small test?"

Snotlout looked at Night Fury with suspicion. Something told him that Night Fury was up to no good.

"What kind of test? It better not be something crazy that would involve me."

Night Fury just ignored him as he asked.

"Do you have a phone?"

Instinctively his hand reached for his pocket where his phone was but didn't take it out as his wariness kept increasing. He didn't trust anything about this guy.

"Why are you asking?"

Immediately after he said it a purple lightning bolt move to Snotlout and both him and Night Fury disappeared.

A few seconds later Night Fury reappeared alone and he leaned back on the wall where he was standing moments before.

Then as if nothing happened, he nonchalantly asked.

"So where were we? I think we were discussing the feasibility of Astrid and Hiccup's plan right?"

* * *

**That's it for this chapter. I hoped you enjoyed it.**

**As many of you mentioned to me before I indeed made a mistake in the last chapter when Hiccup started to use _I _instead of _Night Fury_. But I don't plan to correct it, instead I'll use it for something I already planned ^^**

**Some might that if it was the case, it would be normal that now that Astrid is rested that she realized Hiccup's mistake and figure out that he is Night Fury. To that I argue that she still didn't realized as she was pretty tired when Hiccup said it and a lot of stuff happened and will happen before she can get a proper rest. But don't worry what you are all waiting is not long down the way. Let's just say that Hiccup's day as Night Fury is numbered.**

**Sorry if it bothered you last chapter and I hope that you still enjoyed the story so far.**


	22. Chapter 22 - Found

**Hiccup in a Flash, chap 22**

**I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or its characters, just merely borrowing the character for an adventure of my own.**

**Please enjoy yourself with this fanfic ^^**

**\- Chapter 22: Found**

* * *

"Where did you go? No, wait. What did you do with Snotlout?" asked Astrid.

"Who?" said Hiccup in a completely fake innocent tone.

Astrid groaned in frustration. She could guess what happened: Night Fury got pissed at Snotlout repeating over and over that he was weak and, in a typical male response, he wanted to show off and pissed Snotlout off along the way. The rest was easy to guess, he must have carried Snotlout somewhere and left him there. She just hoped that he didn't dropped Snotlout somewhere dangerous.

While Astrid remained composed, the others weren't faring as well as her. Fishlegs was a bit tense but didn't panic as, like Astrid, he guessed what happened. The twins, however, were a bit slower on the uptake. Tuffnut especially as he began to panic.

"What the f*ck?! Where's Snotlout?! What did you do to him?!"

In contrast Ruffnut's reaction was slightly different.

"He disappeared?! You can do that?! Cool! Why haven't you done it earlier?"

"Seriously Sis?! Sure it's kind of cool but it's Snotlout! Yes he can be an ass but he didn't have to make him disappear! He was my best friend and now he's gone?! And I didn't even have time to say good bye! Ô Snotlout! What a tragic fate! Disappeared too soon! We won't forget you my friend, no we won't!"

Tuffnut finished his rant in a theatrical pose as if pleading the Heaven. It must have been a trick of the eyes but for a moment Hiccup thought he saw a skull in his hand as he raised it, cursing some tragic fate. Even if he knew Tuffnut for quite some time, Hiccup couldn't say if he genuinely believed Snotlout disappeared forever or if he was joking. However one thing was sure: Tuffnut would make an amazing actor for plays of old greek tragedy.

Meanwhile Ruffnut seemed quite amused at her brother's rant.

With upturned eyes at Tuffnut's exaggerated performance, Astrid admonished Tuffnut.

"Cut it out Tuffnut! Snotlout isn't dead, that idiot just left him somewhere to piss him off."

"Oh. Alright then, nevermind. So what we were talking about again?"

Fishlegs would always be impressed by how quickly Tuffnut's mood could change. The twins were the very definition of unpredictable. He still remembered when they were younger, working together to enter the BCPD. One minute they were calmly discussing on how they could enter the academy, the next the twins got bored and started to play with crackers.

_Those poor chicken…_

But now wasn't the time to reminisce the past. Trying to find the courage, he asked Night Fury what worried him.

"E-Excuse me but where did you leave Snotlout?"

Night Fury simply shrugged and waited in silence.

He didn't have to wait for long as a few seconds later Tuffnut's phone began to ring. Tuffnut took out his phone and saw that it was Snotlout calling. Promptly he picked up the call.

"Snotlout?! Where-"

"""GET ME OUT OF HERE!"""

Snotlout had shouted so loud that Tuffnut's ears were ringing. He put his phone at arm's length and he activated the speaker for everybody to hear.

"Snotlout don't yell, I put you on speakers! Tell us, what happened? Where are you?"

"""WHAT HAPPENED?! I'LL TELL YOU WHAT HAPPENED! THAT A**HOLE DROPPED ME AT THE ZOO!"""

"What?!"

"""AND THAT'S NOT ALL! HE PUT ME IN THE ELEPHANTS' PEN!"""

"Huh?"

"""HE LEFT ME WITH THE F*CKING ELEPHANTS! AND I CAN'T EVEN CLIMB THE FENCE!"""

"..."

"""I SWEAR I'M GONNA KILL THAT F*CKER!"""

"Snotlout! Stop shouting! We can hear you fine."

Astrid was the only one who kept her cool. Fishlegs was dumbfounded, Tuffnut was half way between horrified and jealous while Ruffnut had stars in her eyes as she looked at Night Fury with admiring eyes.

_Ugh, she always been a sucker for pranks like this._

Astrid had already guessed that Night Fury would been a dick to Snotlout.

_But the elephants' pen? Really?_

"""BUT HE-"""

"Calm down!" cut Astrid. "There's no use to yell, you can get mad all you want once we get you out of there."

"""I tried to leave but I can't climb the fence and the zoo is still not open. There's no one around! There's only the elephants and- EH! LEAVE ME ALONE ALREADY!"""

Apparently some elephants were trying to play with the loud strange human that suddenly appeared in their pen.

"Don't worry. Night Fury will bring you back."

"""WHAT?! NO YOU CAN'T ASK-"""

But Astrid already ended the call, completely ignoring Snotlout's protests. She looked at Night Fury who had silently listened to the call while acting bored.

"I think you proved your point. Now can you bring him back here before some elephants decide to adopt him, or worse he manages to make them angry?"

With a small smile that couldn't be seen under his mask, he nodded and once again disappeared in a purple lightning. Ten seconds later he was back with a pale faced Snotlout.

Snotlout nearly fall down on the floor as he jump out of Night Fury's arm. When he feel assured that he was no longer aggressed by curious elephants, he threw a murderous glare at Night Fury. For his part, Hiccup simply ignored him as he walked back to where he stood before.

But inwardly he felt pretty reassured. He had done tests last night but now he was confident that he will indeed be able to carry the team all day across Berk.

"Snotlout, are you ok?" asked Fishlegs.

"Yeah, somehow. Let me kill that a**hole and I'll be fine."

Fishlegs had a sympathetic smile. If he was still acting the same then he must be ok. Astrid visibly made the same conclusion.

"Alright! So I assume that none of you any longer have doubts about Night Fury's ability for our plan? Or do you all want to see elephants closer before you can trust him to carry you?"

Astrid looked at each of them. They didn't raise any objections, proof that Night Fury's demonstration had been quite effective. If he can carry Snotlout at the other side of Berk that fast he should be able to carrying them.

As everyone, especially Snotlout, acknowledged Night Fury's capabilities with various degree of reluctance, she finally glared at Night Fury. The message in her eyes was quite clear.

_Now that you're satisfied can we move on?_

He said nothing and simply signed her to continue.

"Now that we are all at the same point with the plan, I need to know if you are with us or not?"

They looked at her with a blank expression, not understanding what she was asking. The lack of reaction from their part slightly frustrated Astrid who asked again.

"It's not a complicated question. We explained to you what was our plan against Helheim's Gate and proved to you that we have the means to do it. All is left is to know whether or not you're willing to participate or not, I need to know if you agree to the plan or not?"

They exchanged looks with each other, complicated expressions on their face. Clearly something was bothering them but none of them were willing to say it.

Astrid finally lost her cool. Waiting for their answer was killing her, she didn't thought it would have been difficult to get answers to a yes-no question.

"What?!"

None of them were willing to say whatever was bothering them. Finally, after they exchanged a last look, Fishlegs tried to explain.

"I-It's just that… We aren't used to… you usually…"

"You usually never asked our opinions." Seeing as Fishlegs wasn't willing to say it, Ruffnut finished his sentence for him.

"Once you have a plan, you usually tell us what to do and we have to follow. The only time you asked our opinion is when you have no plan, so almost never. Last time was two years and you actually punched Snotlout in the face when he said you had no plan."

Tuffnut and Snotlout didn't said anything but clearly agreed.

Astrid let out a sigh. Thinking back, it is true that she goes ahead without asking their opinions. It is how she always rolled ever since high school, and as she was always proven right she never doubted her decisions. But in the past month it was different, she started to work with Hiccup.

At first she was seriously pissed at Hiccup and his crazy ideas who never listen to her or followed her plans. However, every time he went along his seemingly stupid ideas they made breakthrough while none of her plan showed any success: she focusing solely on the warehouse Johann told her and missed the suspicious activities in another warehouse, she tried to do ambush with others to Night Fury only to be ridicule by him, she entered without back up at Cadmus Labs and nearly got them all killed if it weren't for her crazy partner.

One would thought that after being nearly killed by the Black Hood a few months ago she would have learned her lesson about always having back up but she went with how she usually did things and she was certain that if she had continued to do until the end they wouldn't be all present here today.

After long nights thinking over her decisions, she vowed to learn her lesson. She would to listen to others more and won't immediately dismissed their opinion. And more importantly she realized how important her companions were and how precious was a partner who could balance her headstrong ways. That's why she no longer could ask of her friends to follow her blindly. She didn't want to lead them in a situation like Cadmus Labs again where they could have died because of her mistakes. After all these years together she owed them more than a pointless death. That's why if they didn't want to follow her anymore, she will respect their choices.

That's why she was really nervous before that meeting, it wasn't just because of the attack of Berk. That's why she asked them if they wanted to still follow her. But to get the responses she's been waited for she'll have to do something she never did before: be honest with them.

"Look. I know that I haven't been the easiest person to follow. I know that I usually dismissed your opinions as I always thought that I knew better. And I know that along the years I asked a lot from you and I haven't been the most supportive or comprehensible person. But I learned one thing from all the madness of the last months. That Astrid and her methods won't and can't do much against Helheim's Gate and-" she resolutely looked at Night Fury, fearlessly facing him " and she can't put an end to Night Fury. She- _I_ need you. But the past weeks have been more dangerous for you than ever before and I made mistakes which nearly cost all of your lives. I no longer can ask you to follow me blindly."

She looked at each of them as she spoke from her heart. Fishlegs was about to say something but she cut him before he could talk. She was finally being honest with them about things that weighed on her mind for quite some time and she didn't want to be interrupted.

"And I'm not just speaking about physical danger; I know that being in life and death danger is part of the danger but now criminals isn't the only danger to you. Your career is also being endangered because of me. I asked you to hide and lie about my cooperation with Night Fury and if Stoick, or anyone else, learned about it, your career is over. You'll be fired, lose your colleagues and friends, you'll be on the front page of every news media calling you traitor or criminal, you might face judicial repercussion and Helheim's Gate might even target you and your family for what you may or may not know."

Now that she was saying it outloud she couldn't believe how foolish and reckless she's been. How could she have not think that much of the consequence of her actions and the risk she made them took? Forget worrying about whether or not they would still follow her or not! It was not a choice. Only an idiot or an insane person would chose to still follow her with such risks. For her she was too deeply involved to go back but for Ruffnut, Fishlegs, Snotlout and Tuffnut they could still make the right choice.

With a heavy heart she continued to speak as no longer could stop her words from flowing of her mouth.

"I can't ask you that much of a sacrifice for me. Not after being that much of a jerk to you for so many years. So I won't force you to follow me. If you don't want to participate with us or don't want to have any part with me, Night Fury and Hiccup then I'll understand and let you join the rest of the squads to patrol the city. I know I can't ask to not tell anyone about our plan or Night Fury so I won't say anything but know I won't blame you. I ask you to make a crazy choice with nothing to win and all to lose and if I tell you all that now it is because if you are still willing to follow that crazy me then you need to be ready for a bumpy trip because I can't guarantee your safety or that you won't be fired but I can tell you that we won't stop until we either finish Helheim's Gate or they finish us. Once you made your mind, there will be no way back. If you're in you'll have to be with us until the end. You'll have to lie to your colleagues and to Stoick. You'll have to work with the BCPD's number 1 enemy."

She paused a moment as she made sure that everyone understood the importance of the decision they'll have to make. She wanted to give them more time to think about it but sadly they didn't had much time left and she needed to know their decision now.

"I know it isn't an easy decision to make and I apologize for dumping that on you without warning but I needed you to make that decision now: are you with us or not?"

For a long, excruciating minute, none of them said anything as they each thought about what Astrid just told them. They didn't expect such a long and open-hearted speech from Astrid nor did they knew that Astrid's question was one with such heavy consequences.

The silence was like torture to Astrid until finally, surprisingly, Tuffnut was the first to give his answer..

"I don't know why you thought we needed such a long speech. I have long since decided that I'll follow you wherever you'll go. And if I get fired then be it. I wouldn't have been hired in the first place if it wasn't for you. Moreover prison could be fun too. Besides how can I not be in 100% percent guaranteed crazy plan?! I'm in."

"For once I agree with my dumb brother. I'm also in."

Then Fishlegs followed the twins.

"As Tuffnut said, I decided long ago that i would always follow you. No matter the consequences. I'm in."

Finally only Snotlout was left. She could have give him more time to decide but time was running out. And to be honest she was torn between being relieved and nervous. His decision could destroy their whole plan and Snotlout never liked working with Night Fury or Hiccup, and so from the very beginning. To make things worse, he just was riled up by Night Fury who put him in the elephants' pen. It would be quite legitimate for him to refuse and walk out of here. But if he went and told Stoick...

"Snotlout?"

Snotlout threw one last angry glare at Night Fury before answering.

"Obviously I'm with you babe! But just to be clear I hate that guy."

Without surprise he was pointing to Night Fury who completely ignored him.

"I'm in but I do that uniquely for you."

Astrid was so relieved that she could almost kiss Snotlout. Almost. But at least she was willing to forgive him for calling her babe.

She felt rising in her a wave of a rare emotion that she was rarely felt before: gratefulness. She was grateful to the world that she have such dependable friends on who were willing to follow her even though she knew she didn't deserve it. Her eyes were getting a bit watery from all the emotions but, being who she was, she quickly chased it away.

Now was not the time and she went back to her usually work mode.

Strangely enough, even if she finally opened to them and asked them if they would follow her while fearing their response, she didn't do it with Hiccup. She told him her worries about Ruffnut and the others and that she first wanted to give them a chance to leave before executing their plan but she didn't ask him if he still wanted to work with her. Hiccup would have plenty of reasons to no longer want to work with her too: she used to constantly ignored him, she was often acting headstrong and rude, she enjoyed beating the crap out of him at their regular training session and to top it off, she also put him in danger at Cadmus Labs and mindlessly pursued Night Fury instead of Helheim's Gate.

However, in all her dark thoughts about the rest of the gang leaving her, it never occurred to her that Hiccup would leave her. And it wasn't just because he mostly was the one who came up with all the crazy ideas that might get them fired. It appeared that for some reasons she trusted him. And she didn't know why.

But first Astrid needed to convey her gratitude to her friend.

"Thank you, all of you. Sincerely. But don't forget your decision."

Her tone made a clear shift. It contained less emotion but instead it carried across a sharp resolve.

"From now on we're in it together until the end. We'll start the plan immediately after Hiccup bring us our communications devices. He will stay here and be in charge of our communications. We'll use a different frequency that the BCPD so you'll have new equipment made by Hiccup. He'll tell where to go or what we'll be facing. Always be attentive to what he says because soon after he tell you to brace yourself, Night Fury will be there to take where you need to be and he won't wait for you to be ready."

"Ok but where is Hiccup?"

Astrid frowned.

"I don't know. He should already be here. Before I asked you to come, he told me to go ahead as he would only need a few minutes. Maybe I should-"

"I'll go."

Everybody was surprised by Night Fury's sudden question. He has been so silent since he brought back Snotlout that she almost forgot he was still here.

Night Fury disappear and came back 5 seconds later. In his arms were a whole lot of communicators.

"He told me they were all ready to go. I told him to prep himself to start communications in his lab, we'll leave immediately."

"Perfect. Gear up and let's go."

* * *

George Dunlap was nervous. He was a small time pickpocket who lived in Berk for the last 5 years. He never liked gangs and tried to stay clear of them and their wars. The conflict between the Outcasts and the Berserkers a few months ago had been bloody and didn't seemed to come to an end until the Berserkers' plan for Christmas failed and the Black Hood gang was arrested. The new coming star of the BCPD, Astrid Hofferson, managed to successfully arrest the whole Black Hood by herself in one night. By bringing down the last trump card of the Berserkers and using the information they gained from the arrests, the BCPD deeply wounded both the Berserkers and the Outcasts who agreed to a truce to avoid mutual annihilation.

Even if the BCPD managed to put a stop to the conflict between the two gangs, no one believed that this truce would last long. Everyone knew that both of them were just recovering and were slowly building back their war potential. The word on the street was at that time that the truce would last one or two months at best. But then came Night Fury who put a stop to the war preparation of both gangs and significantly reduced the number of criminal operations which succeeded. Nonetheless, even if Night Fury disrupted their plans, both the Berserkers and the Outcasts were getting ready for the second round of the war.

George, for his part, sensing that the streets would be covered in blood once again, he went to hide himself in parts of town far from both territories. The oncoming four parties war between the two gangs, the BCPD and Night Fury wasn't his war and he sure as hell didn't want any part in it. Even if there was a lot you can earn in such war, it wasn't worth getting himself killed.

However, soon after Night Fury's first TV appearance, a new player arrived in Berk. Nobody knew where they came from but they had some serious backing and meant business. In less than a week they controlled nearly the totality of the harbour and started to shift their interest on land and the industrial part of the town. Pretty soon they owned a sizable part of the town and became one of the major player of Berk, in par with the Outcasts and the Berserkers.

Of course those two gangs weren't liking it one bit and openly declared their hostility to the newcomers. Surprisingly very little of the fight made it on the street and a few days later nearly nobody heard of the Berserkers of the Outcasts anymore. Some said they left town, others that they were exterminated. None knew exactly what happened but one things was known for sure: some pretty bloody fights must have happened indoors. The results was that in two weeks the newcomers became the rulers of Berk and now everybody, in one way or another, answered to Helheim's Gate.

Even George had to answer to them whether he liked it or not. Even if he chose to ignore their demands and went into hiding to escape the repercussions, he won't be able to live his life anymore. The fences that he knew for a long time would refuse to buy what he stole and every time someone would recognize him in the street, they would report it to Helheim's Gate. There was no escaping them.

That's why he was hiding in the shadows at 9am, anxiously waiting for a fruit shop to open.

He's been ordered by Helheim's Gate to do as much public mischiefs as possible during the day starting from 9am. The instructions were clear: it has to be visible and public and if there was anything he needed to do it they would provide him with whatever was necessary.

He had to do at least one mischief every 2 hours from 9am to 9pm. Moreover, whatever you earned during the day, you'll have to give 20% of it to Helheim's Gate, 25% if they needed to provide you with something. As pickpocketing wasn't considered a visible mischief they gave him a gun and ordered him to attack stores. It didn't matter if he managed to collect a lot of money or not but he had to attack at least a store every 2 hours.

If he wasn't arrested by the end of the day, he'll be able to keep 75% of whatever he earned. That should make him happier but if he wasn't arrested was the key condition here.

Usually, as a pickpocket he didn't gathered much attention on himself and managed to escape to Night Fury until now (except once). And by the time his victims realized they've been robbed he was long gone.

And his luck has been awfully good until now. Once he got caught by Night Fury but for some reason he didn't arrest him. He simply took back the wallets he just stole and left him there with a warning. At that time, not believing his luck, he ran away before the guy he just had stole his wallet decided to press charges against him.

But now he had to do actual robbery and he doubted that this time Night Fury will let him go with just a warning if he got him again.

Letting out a huge sight he lamented over the turn that his life took. Even if Berk was getting warmer, it was still cold as he stood in that alley for the past half-hour in a uncomfortable position. Moreover the handgun he was tightly holding in his pocket seemed to become heavier and heavier as he waited for the shop to open. He didn't knew much about gun and never liked it but he at least knew how to use it. He just hope that he won't have to use it today.

_Good Lord Jesus, I know that I'm not your favorite son and I never go to church but right now I could really use your help. I'm not a killer nor does I want to kill or hurt anyone. But I don't have a choice here. So please God, Jesus and all the saints and angels in heaven, make it so that today everything will go smoothly and won't go horribly wrong. Also if possible that I won't end up in jail. And if everything work out fine I swear that I-_

But his silent prayer got interrupted as he spotted some activities going on in the store. It would soon open. There won't be much in the register right now but it should still have enough cash to provide change for the customers of the day. It won't be much but money wasn't his goal right now. He just wanted to do his quota during the day before worrying about how much he would make.

Gripping a bit tighter his handgun, he walked to the entrance of the store and put on his hoodie and covered his face with a scarf. As he tried to calm his nervousness he finished his prayer.

_Please sweet Lord! Make it that everything will be okay._

George Dunlap was the first opening shot of the wave of criminals that hit Berk that day.

* * *

The day went off on a crazy start. The attack of Helheim's Gate already started 3 hours ago at 9am and more than 400 crimes had already been reported. Hiccup, with the help of the others, had already stopped 87 crimes. He kept running back and forth all over Berk while carrying the others while sometimes he had to intervene himself. The good news was that his body was holding quite well and carrying others no longer left him completely exhausted. The downside was that it didn't relieve the mental fatigue and the feeling of exhaustion. The Speed Force made it so that he would quickly recovered fatigue but he was still feeling and it was taking a toll on his mind. He could hold it for now and probably for the whole day but he would have to be extra careful to not make any mistakes. Moreover the last incident where he intervened gave him quite a large blow to his mental.

As he expected one of the two ambulances carrying organs for transplant scheduled today were attacked and he had to carry the organ to the hospital himself.

When he arrived he didn't see any crooks or anything of the like. He expected to see some people from Helheim's Gate present as it was definitely one of the planned event to lure him out but saw no one. Instead he noticed that once again a camera crew seemed to be coincidentally present on the site of the ambush.

_Sh*t! Those clever bast*rd. They must have given an anonymous tip to the TV news that something would happen here and that Night Fury would show up. They are using them to know when I arrive. That way they don't need to have their own men present._

He could already guessed that there would be a lot of TV news on his path today.

_That's quite clever of them on that one. We can't arrest the TV crews nor can we stopped them from filming. That way they could cover a large part of Berk while preserving their men. I really underestimated them._

That thought depressed him. He hoped that he could have Stoick arrested the men of Helheim's Gate they noticed who were wanted for other crimes. That way they won't be able to stop the current operation but we might obtain some desperately needed information. But now that he knew they were using reporters his hope to level the field was crushed.

As he picked up the icebox with the organ it frustrated him to know that he was doing exactly what Helheim's Gate wanted for him to do. He could only play along and let Helheim's Gate knew his movements. However there was still one thing he could do right now. They made prediction on how long it would take him to do it but recently he became faster than before. He could only do one thing now: exceed their prediction.

He willed himself to tap more in the Speed Force than ever before as he began to run. He was getting faster as he accessed to more and more Speed Force. The purple lightning following him was getting thicker too.

_Time to go even faster!_

The shriek of the Night Fury resound louder than ever as a large bolt of purple lightning disappeared in the streets of Berk.

* * *

George Dunlap was dead tired and was having a very bad day.

Already more than 8 hours passed since he robbed that fruit store. After that, he tried to attack a liquor store a couple hours later but a patrol police car passed nearby when he was keeping the owner at gunpoint. Unfortunately they noticed him and stopped just outside of the store. George knew that if he didn't run now it was over. He immediately ran of the store before the cops stepped out of their car and fled without looking back. He heard the policemen yelled at him to stop but he ignored them. Then a shot was fired in his direction but far from stopping it just attached wings to his shoes as he ran like his life depended on it. Luckily he grew up not far from here and knew the streets well. He ran up small alleys where cars couldn't follow and didn't stopped until he was sure no one was after him anymore.

He then took him an hour to calm the crazy beating of his heart and headed to his supervisor for the day, the one who gave him his gun and is collecting Helheim's Gate share. He tried to explain the situation to him but Dean was intransigent. He had to meet his quota otherwise Helheim's Gate will make sure that he couldn't do business anywhere in Berk and that he would be "appropriately punished".

He knew all too well what kind of "appropriate punishment" would await him so he begged Dean for another chance. He then explained to him that he might have a way out of this trouble. If he can do more than the number of robbery needed in a day or if he could give a consequent prize to Helheim's Gate before the end of the day, his quota would be considered accomplished and he would be left alone.

Pressed by the time, he tried to do a big haul by attacking a pawn shop half an hour later after making sure that no patrol was nearby. Sadly for him the owner was armed and noticed him acting suspiciously across the street. As a consequence when he tried to rob the place, the owner was ready for and pulled out his rifle at the same time as him.

For a long moment neither of them dared to move nor said anything. In such a situation, one would expect a shouting match between the two, each of them yelling to the other to drop down his weapon and before long one of them will get too heat up and they'll both shoot each other. However nothing of the like happened. George simply froze like paralyzed when the owner took out his weapon and blindly stared at the rifle without daring to make a move or said anything. The owner for his part was a lot more experienced to this situation than was George. He fought off worse scums than George out of this store on a regular basis for the past 18 years he owned this store. As he gauged him, completely paralyzed and dumbly staring at him, the owner could see that he was just a poor kid completely over his head. Clearly he never done that before so he decided to give him a chance. He shouted a simple order.

"Scram!"

It completely brought back to life George who obediently obey and fled without ado.

Once again it took George a long time to calm his drumming heart after that incident. He had never been so scared in his life and all in one day. He wasn't prepared for so much emotion and stress: he's almost been arrested and killed twice in the same day. But unfortunately he doubted Dean would be considerate of his emotions and he still needed to do something and fast.

Now that his attempt at the pawn shop failed, his hope for a big haul to clear his quota flew away as he sure as hell won't try to rob a pawn shop again. However as time flew by, his situation kept getting worse. He ran to different places but cops were patrolling everywhere. And the places he could attack that weren't visited by frequent patrols had already been robbed by others criminals, leaving nothing left to rob.

Out of ideas he did the only thing he knew: pickpocket people. He knew that he was against Helheim's Gate instructions but he was out of idea. He went to the places that others criminals hadn't tried to rob and where the police patrols were the most frequent and tried to pickpocket as many customers as possible, hoping that with some hope he will obtain enough to make a contribution large enough that Helheim's Gate would leave him alone. He was ready to give up his share of 75% and give it all to Helheim's Gate.

That bring us to 5:24pm, near a dumpster in a back alley, just after he pickpocketed the customers of a third store, he was counting how much he managed to get. To be honest it wasn't much. So far people had very little on them and he only manage to put together a meager $1000 from the 24 wallets he stole so far. Again in the ones he managed to get this time they weren't much in it, even less than before: $83 from 4 wallets.

Then a jackpot: a wallet with $560. He was far from a large haul but in a normal day it would have been quite happy with himself. He was so glad for that unexpected good surprise as he almost missed that wallet, he took it from the guy in front of him as he left the shop.

Sending a small prayer to God, he looked at who was his unwilling benefactor. As he looked at the driver licence he stopped for a moment. The face on the licence looked familiar yet not quite familiar enough that he recognized him. It felt that he only saw the photo of the guy somewhere before but never met him.

_Was he someone famous? That would explained with he had so much on him._

Intrigued he looked closely at the name. Again he was struck by the same feeling of familiarity but couldn't quite place why.

Then he remembered. Immediately he ran out of the alley to see if he could still see his mysterious benefactor. He was quite far away but he still recognized his long grey coat and blue hat at a distance. With a grin he hurriedly followed.

Lady luck was smiling on him as he found his big haul. The guy he randomly pickpocketed in a supermarket was one of the most sought-after men by Helheim's Gate.

He just found Eric Walkers.

* * *

**End of the chapter**

**I hope that you enjoyed it! For those of you who don't remember who Eric Walkers, I encourage you to look up in chapter 18 and 19 to know who he is ^^**

**Thanks a lot to all of those that regularly read me and those who put nice review, I appreciate it.**

**And I'll like to thank coolcoco98 for helping me.**


	23. Chapter 23 - Alex, Sam and Big Bear

**Hiccup in a Flash, chap 23**

**I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or its characters, just merely borrowing the characters for an adventure of my own.**

**Please enjoy yourself with this fanfic ^^**

**\- Chapter 23: Alex, Sam and Big Bear**

* * *

**Quick reminder for those who don't remember who Eric Walkers is:**

**Eric Walkers is the one that took a picture of Night Fury when Hiccup had passed out near a warehouse after the ambush in the warehouse and got injured by the claymore. Hiccup realised later that in the picture Eric took, part of his costume was torn and it exposed his metal leg. Eric's friend, Andrew Patterton was killed by Helheim's Gate after he drunkenly said he got a photo of Night Fury. Both Astrid and Helheim's Gate is currently looking actively for Eric Walkers who managed to escape Helheim's Gate and went into hiding with Night Fury's photo.**

Shortly before George Dunlap stole Eric Walker's wallet, Hiccup was still running around town, trying to provide support to the full-scale attack of Helheim's Gate on Berk. He dropped Tuffnut nearby a reported robbery that turned ugly as a walking patrol of officers passed close to it.

The event unfold like that: while the robber was threatening at gunpoint one of the employee to surrender all the cash in the register, he noticed the two officers passing in front of the door. They didn't noticed him but the robber panicked and shot one of them and almost killed the others. That pair of officer was composed of a more experienced officer and a rookie officer in training. The senior officer was the one who got shot and was rapidly losing blood on the floor. The newbie officer managed to find cover on one side of the entrance but couldn't reach his partner on the other side without crossing the line of fire of the robber. Quite panicked he called for urgent backup and a medical team as he couldn't make sure of the state of his partner but he looked badly wounded.

When Terrible Terror caught that distress call on the police frequency, it relied the information to Hiccup who immediately took Tuffnut with him to solve the situation. Once they arrived, he asked Tuffnut to take care of the wounded officer and reassure the newbie while himself took care of disarming the robber and incapacitating him. After he made sure that the robber was out cold and no longer could harm anyone, he went to see Tuffnut who was assessing the wounds of the senior officer.

"How is he?"

Tuffnut answered in a professional tone, so different of how he usually behaved.

"Not good. His injuries are quite serious, he need immediate assistance."

After all those incident with him, Hiccup was seeing Tuffnut in a new light. He was actually competent and dependable on the field. He was expecting the twins to be some kind of liability but they were taking their jobs seriously and were actually good at it. Just what kind of training Astrid put them through?

"Should I move him to the hospital?"

Tuffnut seemed to think for a moment as he took a closer look to the wounds but shook his head.

"No, he shouldn't be moved before paramedics get here and make sure that his spine isn't wounded. The bullet passed a bit too close to it. I'll try to stop the bleeding but we can only hope that they'll get here fast enough."

"Is there anything I can do?"

Hiccup didn't like to leave the officer like that and wished that there was something he could do. Anything.

"Sadly no. You should go, I'll take care of the rest."

Nodding once, Hiccup quickly disappeared in front of the eyes of a bewildered newbie officer.

The cry of Night Fury resounded in the streets as Hiccup continued to patrol the city. He voluntarily kept his anti-Doppler effect device, Thunderdrum, activated so that the people of Berk could hear that Night Fury was there to help because there was no doubt that some were panicked with all those violent crimes occurring everywhere in Berk. Moreover it allowed him to hear bits of conversations from the Berkians to know how they were responding to the current attack. But he didn't get much, only that most of them were worried but many still dared to go outside. Berkians really are the fighting type.

However the streets seemed less crowded than usual while the traffic was abundant, especially with unmarked van that he kept seeing everywhere he went. Moreover he saw before an abnormally large number of them on incident where there was news reporters sent by Helheim's Gate. He suspected that some of this vans belonged to Helheim's Gate that was probably using them to carry criminals around or bring back whatever they managed to rob. Sadly he had no way of knowing which one effectively belonging to them and only could watch them moving around, probably going to create even more of a disturbance.

Meanwhile the artificial intelligence incorporated in his helmet, Terrible Terror, was listening to the police, firemen and emergency canals as well as the news media and compiled all those information to order the different events by order of priority.

So far things were going relatively well. Stoick's order of mobilization of all the BCPD's manpower to cover the most area possible was proving itself effective as the BCPD was set to establish a new record of arrest in only half a day. On Hiccup's part, so far his counter-measure against Helheim's Gate was also showing results. He managed to limit the places where he had to personally intervened to one out of five. For the four others he had alternatively let the others take care of it and only intervene a few times to help them. He also noticed that for a good number of those times, a camera crew was present, waiting for him. It was a positive sign that so far his plan was working and with some luck that should have disrupted the timing of a fair number of operations of Helheim's Gate. It didn't know how much effective it would be but he hoped that he would be enough to stop them from acquiring whatever they needed.

However they were paying a large price for it as the death toll kept on climbing. Already, more than 20 men and women died so far. 14 were civilians and the number of victims and wounded were counted by the dozens. The price of this attack was heavy but it was far lower from what could have been expected if Helheim's Gate had taken them by surprise. The hospitals were warned beforehand and the evacuation of victims had been so far quite efficient.

Moreover they were not the only ones to pay the price of this attacks. Helheim's Gate really was playing all-or-nothing today as they used nearly all criminals in Berk for that one time. With the number of arrests and the current estimated harvest they made so far, he doubted that it was a rentable operation for Helheim's Gate. He just hoped that they could inflict a major blow to Helheim's Gate with it or all those victims would be for nothing.

With those dark thoughts in mind, he interrogated Terrible Terror about where he should go next.

"T.T., where is the next place I need to go"

'Shalunov And Sons, a jewelry at Jefferson avenue and Main Street.'

"What's the situation?"

'A robbery is currently in progress and no one is available at less than 10 minutes from the location.'

"Hostages?"

'The manager has locked himself in the back and pressed the silent alarm. He's safe for the moment but he might not be if the back of the store is searched.'

"How many aggressors?"

'A man and a woman. Both armed with handguns.'

"The others can handle it without me. Who's available?"

'Ruffnut just finished escorting the wounded guard to the hospital. She's currently at Berk General Hospital.'

"Ok. Call her."

While he waited for Ruffnut to answer, he made sure that he wasn't using Night Fury's voice anymore.

_"""Hiccup?"""_

"Ruffnut, Night Fury will soon take you to a robbery in progress at a jewellery. The manager hid himself in the back and triggered the silent alarm. A man and a woman are armed with handguns. You need to attract their attention for around 10 minutes until backup to arrive so that they won't search the back of the store and capture the manager. If they do search the back and the situation evolved in a hostage situation call me back."

_"""Ok."""_

After a short answer, she cut the call as she had all the information she needed. They've been doing that same dance all day and Ruffnut knew that in less than 10 seconds she'll be taken away in a purple lightning bolt followed by a strong wind and a blur of colors and sounds before being thrown off alone close to a bunch of criminals.

But as the call ended and Terrible Terror added the directions to Ruffnut's location, at the exact moment George Dunlap realized how lucky he got, Hiccup suddenly felt a strong chill on his neck. Something just happened. He didn't know what but something in the air just changed and a bad feeling was crawling up his stomach.

His every instincts told him that a storm was coming and he would soon suffer the brunt of it.

With an already heavy mindset and the taxing effort he's been doing all day, he worriedly ran off to Berk General Hospital followed by the loud shriek of the Night Fury.

* * *

It was during that kind of day that Supervisor Dean truly enjoyed being a member of Helheim's Gate. Proud possessor of a tattoo of the infamous emblem of Helheim's Gate on his arm, he was exempted to participate on the attack of Berk. Like all true members of Helheim's Gate's manpower, he was part of the coordination and logistic of the attack. He didn't had to fill the quota of public mischiefs like the rest of the criminals of Berk, as long as he made sure the criminals assigned to him did their quota and occasionally threaten them with what would happen to them if they didn't meet the goal imposed on them. And the best part was he would get 5% of everything that was brought to him.

Truly he was glad to be part of Helheim's Gate and not having to join the others to attack the city. Quite a lot of the constrained criminals got arrested or worse.

At the moment, there wasn't much people left to supervise for Dean: 60% of the people assigned to him got arrested by either the BCPD or Night Fury. Moreover 20% were behind in their quota but he already receive $200.000 of donations for Helheim's Gate and it was still only 5:45pm. Meaning so far in the day he already made $10.000 for close to 9 hours of work. With another 2 hour and 15 minutes left to go, he should still be able to receive quite a sum before the end of the attack. Especially from those who were behind their quota and needed to bring a large sum of money to compensate for it. He could reasonably expect to earn a bit more that $15.000 today as long as the late payers managed to provide enough to get off the hook.

Speaking of the devil, one of them was currently calling him. He snorted when he saw the name: George Dunlap. So far he was the furthest behind the quota with only one successful attack and only $100 brought to Helheim's Gate. It's very likely that he was calling to explain that he won't be able to pay enough before the end of the day and will ask for more time. Too bad for him, Helheim's Gate wasn't lenient on losers like him. It was a miracle he still hasn't been arrested today.

"Yes, what do you want? Can you pay? Did you finally manage to rob someone this time?"

_"""No but I got way better."""_

Dean was intrigued. The fella sounded way too excited for someone in his position.

_What could he possibly got? Seeing how far behind he is, he should be shaking in his boot out of fear. Did he found a shipment of pure gold ingots or something?_

"Okay, I bite. What did you found?"

_"""Eric Walkers."""_

Dean's heart skipped a beat. He must have misheard.

"You said Eric Walkers?"

_"""Yes."""_

"Are you sure?"

_"""I'm certain. I took the guy's wallet and it was him. Afterwards I followed him to make sure, he disguised himself but I'm sure it's him."""_

Dean passed over the fact that George didn't followed the instructions of public mischiefs and returned to doing pickpocket instead of robbing. Now was to the time for that because if he was right then it was big. Bludvist, leader of the Bloody Fist, ordered to found that guy as a top priority. Apparently he was in possession of information on Night Fury. Nearly every crooks in Berk learned his face and looked for him all across Berk. And that lucky bastard of George apparently managed to find him.

If it really was Eric Walkers, Dean needed to reported it immediately. It could very well paved the way to a promotion in Helheim's Gate's ranks for him. A lieutenant would be too high but maybe he could become a squad leader and have his very own squad. If he was right, it could completely change his life but he had to be extra sure that it was him.

"I need an absolute certainty. Are you really sure it's him?"

_"""Certain. I'll bet my life on it."""_

_If a coward like him is willing to bet his life it must really be him._

But if he got it wrong it wouldn't be just George who would lose his life but Dean too.

"Did you take a picture?"

_"""Yes, I'm sending it to you right now."""_

Dean nervously awaited for George to send him the picture. He had never been that nervous before. The stakes were really high for him.

Then finally his phone vibrated, signaling he received the picture. After a brief moment of hesitation, he pressed the button to open the picture.

"..."

A sadistic smile grew on Dean's lips. That lucky lowly pickpocket was right and just made the score of his life. He changed his haircut and shaved his beard but he couldn't hide the two moles on the corner of his eyes. It definitely was Eric Walkers.

"Do you know where he is now?"

_"""Yes, I followed him to his hiding place. He's currently living in an house for sale, at 2452 Edison Street, near Haddock's park."""_

"Is he still there?"

_"""Yes, I'm currently in front of the house and I didn't see him leaving since."""_

"Good, stay there. Inform me the minute he leaves the house. I'll contact the squad chief."

Dean was eager to end this call and inform his chief about it.

_"""Wait Dean!"""_

Dean was tempted to ignore George and immediately call his chief. He didn't want to waste any time but he couldn't risk to miss important information because he couldn't wait a few seconds. Reluctantly he put his phone on his ear again.

"What?"

His tone clearly showed he was annoyed.

_"""A- About my quota, is it ok now? W-With that, I filled my quota right?"""_

"..."

_"""Dean I need to know. Otherwise I can't stay there to watch the house, I'll have to leave to fill my quota."""_

"..."

Dean thought about it for a moment but it was true that he made a major contribution to Helheim's Gate and he needed him to keep watching the house. Now was not the time to be greedy.

"Yes you can considered your quota filled. But only if he is still there when the retrieval squad arrives."

_"""Yes, sure thing. Thanks Dean! I'll definitely make sure to inform you if anything happen!"""_

"Do NOT mess this up!"

And then he finally ended the call. Now was time for another call. Nervously he dialed the number of the chief squad, Ryker Grimborn. That guy gave him the creeps, he was one of the original member of Helheim's Gate that came to Berk. He was at the head of bloodthirsty killers borderline fanatics that would do anything for Helheim's Gate.

But to his surprise, once he told him about Eric Walkers, he got immediately redirected to Drago Bludvist himself. To suddenly talk to the most important person of Helheim's Gate after the Big Boss himself. His nervousness reached never seen before levels. Sweating bullets, he eagerly awaited for Drago to pick the phone in a strange mix of nervousness and excitement.

At the third ring he heard the low voice of Drago.

_"""Yes?"""_

The low cold voice send a shiver down his spine. It was not the first time he heard it but he'll never get use it.

"H-Hum sir, I have great news."

_"""Who is it?"""_

"I-It's Dean Sullivan. I work under Ryker as a supervisor for the current operation."

_"""Alright. What is it?"""_

"We found Eric Walkers."

_"""..."""_

"Sir?"

_"""Are you certain?"""_

"Absolutely."

_"""If you're wrong know that it would be painful and in no way short."""_

Dean gulped nervously. He saw once what Drago could do with that strange weapon they made for him. Even today he still do nightmares about it. If he hadn't personally saw the picture of Eric, he would have never dared to call. Now he was sure of him.

"I stand by my word."

_"""Good. Where is he?"""_

"In an house for sale at 2452 Edison Street, near Haddock's park."

_"""..."""_

He patiently waited as Drago was thinking.

_"""I'm a bit too far from there. Take the Nadders' squad with you and go get him. I'll informed them that you are to lead them. You must capture him alive and take all his belongings with you."""_

Dean had trouble hiding his excitement.

"Yes, sir. Immediately, sir. But right now the city is a mess. What if we encounter some difficulties?"

_"""Nothing must stand in your way, is that clear?"""_

"Yes sir. Very clear."

_"""... Do not fail me."""_

"Yes sir."

Drago ended the call. Dean was still having goosebumps all over his skin. Drago left him in charge of a squad. He was effectively a squad leader. And it wasn't any squad. It was the Nadders' squad.

The Nadders was the best unit under Ryker's authority. It was filled of bloodthirsty killers who pledged total loyalty to Helheim's Gate. They were one of the squads which recently appeared in Helheim's Gate and, despite their low numbers, they immediately took the top positions of the squads. They said that those squads with strange names only is compromised of people who personally received something from the Big Boss and were now able to do inhumane feat. It was said that their names came from some old nordic mythologies that correspond to the ability they gained.

According to rumors, a Nadder was extremely fast and never missed a shot. It is said that can shot the wing of a fly in movement without touching the other wing. The Nadders' squad had only four men but they were the best marksmen of Helheim's Gate.

And Drago put him, Dean Sullivan, in charge of them. Dean was flattered by the thrust Drago showed to him while also being terribly excited at the idea of commanding such men. The truth was that Drago didn't have much trust in Dean, he just trusted that the Nadders' ability would be more than enough to compensate for Dean's lack of it. Moreover the operation that had been done on the Nadders affected their capacity to think for themselves and needed someone to give them instructions. As long as Dean wasn't a total screw up, Eric Walkers was as good as theirs.

Also the Nadders were stationed less than a quarter of a mile from Dean, another reason for why Drago put him in charge of them instead of Ryker who was further away and supervising the whole attack.

But Dean didn't know that and simply believed he must have made a good impression to Drago. Half-ecstatic, half-nervous, he walked out the door to the outside world with a spring in his steps, eager to accomplish his mission. His promotion was almost certain now. Once he proved he could effectively direct a squad, Drago was sure to promote him. Who knows? Drago might even let him in charge of the Nadders.

He owed all that to one man and he was eager to personally thank him.

_Eric Walkers, I don't know what you did or what you know, but I'm coming for you._

* * *

James G. Larson, also called Gustav by his colleagues, was still a rookie who became an officer exactly a month ago. Normally Gustav, like any rookie like him, would never take any part in an operation facing such a large organization like Helheim's Gate. However the sad truth was that the BCPD needed every available men and couldn't afford to let the rookies aside. Nonetheless they weren't left on their own and each of them was partner up with veteran officer and sent to patrol in a safer area like the residential areas of the middle classes or lower where there wasn't much profit to be made to rob such places.

Currently Gustav was riding a patrol car with a veteran officer while another patrol car was following with another combo of a rookie and a veteran officer. Stoick had taken no risk and put rookie patrols by pairs of two.

Bored out of his mind, Gustav was watching the streets as his veteran partner, Sam, was driving in the residential area from the Frozen Tooth river to the Haddock's park, the park named in the honor of the Haddock family who had lead Berk for generation and was now leading the police force of Berk.

So far they faced very minor incidents compared to the center of Berk. Small time thieves that tried to rob houses with people inside. It wasn't totally uneventful as all of them were armed but they seemed to be amateurs as they didn't know how to correctly use a gun. His colleagues easily subdued them and Gustav and the other rookie were charged with driving them back to the station with one the car while the veterans were trying to reassure the victims and continued to patrol with the other car.

His job was quite easy and he didn't have much to do apart from driving back and forth to the Police Plaza. Gustav was frustrated that he didn't get to do more, to prove his potential. It was already a month since he became an officer and his colleagues still weren't taking him seriously, leaving him with minor tasks and constantly lecturing him on things he already knew.

The only plus side was that he got to discuss with the other rookie who seemed to share his frustration. He really liked that guy, Alexander Carter. He told him that his nickname was Pighead but he really prefered to be called Alex.

However, no matter how much he liked Alex, he was fed up to only have to bring back the criminals that the veteran officers arrested.

After close to two hours without any incident, as they were driving on Edison Street, Gustav seriously hoped for something to happen, anything that will let him show to his partner that he can do way more than simply be a driver. Then a lady in the street was suddenly waving at them to stop and Gustav really thought for a moment he got his wish.

_Please let it not be a lost pet._

The lady who stopped them wasn't exactly old but was in her late fifties and, judging by how she's dressed, she probably was a housewife. She looked like one of those lady who spend most of their time watching the street while cleaning the house.

Gustav's partner slowly stopped the car near the lady and open his window to politely know why she signed them.

"Is there a problem madam?"

"Yes officer. I'm living in that house there with the blue flowers and I saw a suspicious man that I never saw before entered the house across the street."

"What make you say he was someone suspicious?"

After the news started to diffuse the images of the attacks occurring all over Berk, they were regularly stopped by people who thought that any stranger on the street was a criminal.

"Because he entered this house that is still on sale. It's empty, no one is supposed to live there. I think he's either a squatter or he's trying to steal something inside. Please officer, get him out of there. I don't want someone like that lurking in my neighbourhood."

"Are you sure he's not supposed to be there? Could he be from the agency that is selling the house?"

"No officer, he clearly wasn't one of them. He was dressed way too shabby for him to be from the real estate agency. Moreover I called the agency and they said that didn't asked anyone to come here and that I should call the police. I tried to call 911 but I was put on wait then I saw you on the street so I came to tell you. He really shouldn't be there. You really need to go see. Please officer. I beg you, I'm really scared and-"

"Calm down madam. We'll go check it out. But if he indeed has a legitimate reason for being here, I don't want you to freak out so you'll have to leave him alone without bothering the police again. Ok?"

The lady seemed hesitant as she really didn't want him there, legitimate reason or not, but she couldn't refuse. The most important thing was that to get them check out the house.

"Alright officer. Thank you."

"In the meantime, go back to your house, we'll take care of that."

While they parked the car in front of the house the lady told them about, Gustav complained about Sam's decision.

"We really have to do that? She's just an overly noisy neighbour and we surely have more important things to do. In case you didn't notice there is a lot of criminals out there right now."

"I know but it's been two hours since anything happened around here. It is likely that we won't see anything here until the end of the day. And even if she is an overly noisy neighbour as you say, she sounded genuinely scared. We ought to at least check out the situation."

Gustav let out a groan. He really didn't want to deal with crazy and paranoid neighbour right now.

"You know what? I'll just observe and see how you handle the situation, Gustav."

Gustav's frustration was completely forgotten as a smile arrived on his face upon hearing what Sam just said. He'll finally able to take the lead. It wasn't the emergency he wanted but at least it wasn't a lost pet. With some luck it was an armed thief and he'll be able to prove to Sam that he had what it takes to be a real officer.

"What's happening?"

It was Alex and his veteran partner who were following them on the other car and stopped behind them. They couldn't hear what that lady told them so they wanted to know why they were stopping here.

"The neighbour saw a suspicious man entered a empty house and asked us to check it out." answered Sam. "I'm letting Gustav take the lead on this one."

"Really?" excitedly asked Alex.

"Yeah, it'll be good training."

"Cool!"

Seeing the enthusiast of Alex, his partner decided to throw him a bone. After all he had been diligent all day and worked well so far.

"If you want, you'll take the lead on the next one Alex. But only if it isn't anything major okay?"

"Great! Thanks Big Bear."

Big Bear was the nickname of Alex's partner. It was an inside joke as he was quite small but sturdy like a bear. Plus he always put honey in his tea when he was making some. Since then everyone called him Big Bear.

As Alex felt quite giddy as he walked to the door, Gustav was getting nervous standing in front of the door of the house reported by the neighbour. Once Alex, Big Bear and Sam stood behind him, he knocked on the door. Gustav could feel his heartbeat accelerating.

"BCPD. Please open the door!"

They heard something fumble inside the house but nobody answered.

"Hey Sam. Check that out."

Big Bear pointed to a window a bit away from the door that was fractured.

"He might have entered by here if he was trespassing." commented Alex.

Sam nodded before turning to Gustav.

"That lady might not be crazy after all. Be careful."

Feeling his body tensing, he knocked once again on the door; this time more insistently.

"BCPD. Please open the door, we know you're in here."

After a short silence and some things fumbling again, a nervous voice finally responded.

"Y-yes, yes I'm coming. Please wait a moment."

Then they heard someone walking to the door. After exchanging a silent glance the two veteran officers stood on each side of the door, hand on the grip of their gun, ready to intervene in case things went wrong.

When the door opened, a man wearing a large grey coat and a blue wool hat stood by the door. He smelled like he hasn't washed for severals days and his jeans had numerous stain of different colors. It was the clothes of a manual worker that usually had trouble make the ends meet every month, not someone who could afford such a house or was working for a real estate agency. Gustav understood why the neighbour found the man suspicious.

"Yes officer? I-Is there something wrong?"

The man looked extremely nervous and was sweating bullets.

"Yes, we got a report saying that someone suspicious entered this house that supposed to be inhabited. Do you have any idea what that might be about?"

If he was nervous before, the man was now close to panicking.

"S-So-Someone suspicious y-you said? N-No I have no idea. I-I saw no one. I fear that you came for nothing o-officer."

Even if he was in first year at the academy, Gustav would have known that this man was lying.

"Can you please explain to me what you're doing in this house sir? It was my understanding that no one lives here."

"Y-You see. I'm- I was… er … hired to inspect the house before it's sold."

"Really? So you were sent by the real estate agency?"

"Yes, t-that's right."

"Funny you said that. The neighbour apparently called the agency and they told her that they didn't send anyone."

Upon hearing Gustav's word, his stuttering became even worse than before.

"T-T-There must b-be an e-error, o-officer. I-I-I can assure you t-that I was sent by t-the a-agency. S-S-She m-must have called t-the wrong a-agency."

"Of course. But you understand that we still have to check if there really isn't anyone suspicious in the house. Do you mind step aside so that we can look around to make sure of it?"

Gustav didn't waited for an answer and started to make his way into the house.

"N-NO! Y-Y-You can't! T-There is no need! P-Please stop!"

As Gustav completely ignored the man and moved inside the house, a large black UMV parked itself in the front lawn of the house in a loud tyre squeal.

Sam and the other two officers turned around to see the passengers of the car getting out. They definitely looked suspicious and Big Bear and Sam took out their gun as they felt a strong foreboding.

Five men got out of the car. Four were dressed identically, completely dressed in black with an ominous red logo on their chest and sleeves representing a target in front of an ancient heavy gate. They tensed up when they saw that all of them openly carried handguns. But what really scare them was the four men dressed identically as they all share the same empty look in their eyes. Sometimes their eyes seemed to give off a furtive blue light.

The last man seemed to be the leader, dressed normally in a jeans and shirt with a sleeveless hoodie. He too was armed but he didn't share that same empty look. On contrary his eyes looked excited and greedy. Not caring in least that the officers took out their weapon, he casually walked to Alex and the veteran officers.

"Sam, his arm."

Again, Big Bear was the first to noticed. The person who was walking to them was wearing on his forearm the tattoo of Helheim's Gate's members: an heavy ancient gate.

Taking no chances, Alex, Big Bear and Sam aimed at the intruders in the same movement.

"Freeze! Put your arms in the air!"

The air immediately became openly tense as Sam and the others ready themselves to shot to kill. It was really a dangerous situation. They didn't expected to suddenly face of Helheim's Gate's members and if they were there it definitely wasn't for anything good.

However the guy with the tattoo didn't tense up in the least and looked at them as if amused. While several guns were pointed at his face he didn't show an ounce of nervousness. Either he's extremely brave or extremely stupid.

"Kill them."

The order was said in a cold voice by Dean who stood in front of Alex, Sam and Big Bear. The order was immediately followed by the four men behind him.

Faster than Sam and the others could process the information, Alex barely saw the arms of the four men being a blur before four simultaneous shots were fired.

They never stood a chance. Sam, Big Bear and Alex died before they had time to blink.

Dean had a vicious smile on his face as he saw the pleasant spectacle unfold before his eyes. The Nadders really were the best. They only shot once and not one missed. He himself didn't really see what happened but he knew one thing for certain: there was no man that could rivals the Nadders. He even doubt that Drago could do a thing against them. Only maybe the big boss could.

He definitely enjoyed the sensation of power that came from knowing that the Nadders would follow his every order as he walked over the body of the three foolish cops that tried to stop him.

_How idiotic of them to think they could stop a future squad leader like me. Squad leader, I sure as hell could get used to that title._

But too lost in that new sensation of power that spread through his body, he didn't noticed that someone had walked to the front the door and urgently locked it.

When he finally came back to his senses, Dean heard a large object being thrown in front the door.

However Dean wasn't alarmed in the least. He assumed that Eric Walkers was just desperately trying to escape them once again. But he had the Nadders with him. Nothing can stop him.

Leisurely he walked to the door as he signed the Nadders to follow him.

_Let's the hunt begins._

* * *

**End of the chapter**

**There you go! I hoped you enjoyed it!**

**I would like to thank you all for you reviews, I really liked it. **

**For the next chapter you'll have to wait a bit as next week I'll go in vacation in England ^^**

**And I'll just make a quick response to the person who posted reviews as a guest and signed TheNightFury. I really like your comments and how enthusiast you were! I would have gladly answered you and the proposition you made but as you posted it as a guest I couldn't answer you. But know that it was your enthusiast that made speed things up for this chapter and made it post it today. I originally planned to post it next week ^^**

**That's it for the moment and if you see any mistakes, you could send me your correction with the link on my profile page ^^**


	24. Chapter 24 - Battle for Eric Walkers

**Hiccup in a Flash, chap 24**

**Sorry for the long wait. This chapter was really long and I read a lot lately.**

**I promise to myself that I would release this chapter today but I didn't took the time to read myself a second day so they might be some mistakes around the middle part. **

**I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or its characters, just merely borrowing the character for an adventure of my own.**

**Please enjoy yourself with this fanfic ^^**

**\- Chapter 24: Battle for Eric Walkers**

* * *

A bolt of purple lightning was rapidly moving in the streets of Berk as Hiccup was patrolling. But, for the first time since the start of the attack, he wasn't in a hurry. It's already been 9 hours and the wave of criminality that struck Berk all day was clearly weakening. The BCPD managed the impressive job of keeping a relative stability in Berk while arresting a large number of criminals and maintaining low casualties. Even if it was always tragic to have civilians and officers losing their lives, in front of such a massive and violent attack the number of victims was surprisingly low.

But all that violence and chaos was benefiting others. The media outlets in Berk were having a field day with all these highly sensational incidents happening all over town. And if you combined it with the fact that a mysterious informant was telling them exactly when and where Night Fury would appear, they were having the highest ratings of the past years. Not just from Berkian viewers but from all American viewers who were surprised by what they were seeing but also excited to see so much footage of a real superhero in action.

So far Hiccup managed to avoid being seen by the media most of the time by using Astrid and the others as intermediaries but there was still times where he had no choice but to play in Helheim's Gate hand and letting the media see him.

Truth be told for the people watching the news, you would think that all of Berk was on fire and the police was completely overwhelmed and powerless. But the fact was that today's operation was costing Helheim's Gate way more that they anticipated. By Hiccup's estimate, he was sure that at least 60% of Helheim's Gate men had been either stopped or arrested. They lost so many men that he almost no longer not needed as the BCPD were slowly but surely taking back the control of the city. At that point Hiccup hadn't made an intervention for the past thirty minutes and was finally able to take a rest.

Hiccup was quite pleased with the current situation and the efficiency of the BCPD.

_With some luck, I won't have to do anything until the end of the attack._

But as luck would have it, as soon he formulated that thought Terrible Terror informed him of an emergency.

'I picked up a distress call on the police frequency that need your attention.'

"What's the situation?"

'A patrol got attacked while they inspected a house. Three out of four had been shot and their situation is unknown. The last officer locked himself in the house with a suspect and he's requesting urgent backup.'

Hiccup felt a bit depressed when he heard that the three officers were shot. It happened just when he was thinking that things were getting better.

"Alright I'm going. Who is the nearest from here?"

'Astrid. She is currently located in front the Police Plaza.'

"Thanks. Call her."

After a short wait, Astrid picked up the call and waited for Hiccup to explain her next urgency.

"Astrid, someone just killed three officers. Be ready to go."

_"""I'm ready."""_

Astrid kept her cool, her response was calm and sober as one would expect from her. But it was far from cold as a fiery determination you could be heard in her tone.

A few seconds later, Astrid disappeared in front of the Police Plaza and found herself facing a strong wind and blur of color that was the sign that Night Fury was carrying her in the streets of Berk at a speed exceeding common sense.

No matter how many times she did it today, she never got used to that sensation. It was a strange and fascinating experience. Everything was left behind at a speed defying common sense while all the sound and the lights were juggled up together in a bundle of distorted noise and flashy lights. The cold bite of the wind aggressed her face while the gentle warmth of Night Fury was irradiating her back.

Soon everything stopped just as suddenly as it began and they arrived at 2242 Edison Street. The first thing Hiccup noticed was the three officers lying on the ground. Not far from them five men stood by the door. In all likelihood they were the one who did it but there was something strange about them.

While one of them looked like your common thug, the other four men gave out a weird vibe. Completely dressed in black from head to toes, they openly carried their weapons with a blank expression. From what he could see they had some red symbol on their sleeves and something hidden under their clothes around the neck. He couldn't make out what it was but it was something bulky which pulsated a blue light. He didn't know what it was but he got a very bad feeling as he could feel his hair beginning to stand on end.

His instincts were urging him to stay clear of them. Speaking softly so that only Astrid could hear him, he warned her

"Astrid, be careful. I got a bad feeling from those four guys."

Then, not waiting for her to respond, he ran to the officers on the floor. If they were only injured he should first rescue them. In a blink of an eye, he crossed the distance separating him from the officers and examined them.

One look was enough to tell that there was nothing he could do anymore. All of them had been shot in the face, dying instantly. The only consolation was that at least they didn't suffer. Holding back his anger, he glared at their killer.

_Now, time to take care of those guys._

But as he was about to charge them, bad feeling or not, he noticed something strange. Apart from the last guy dressed like a common thug who still had to turn around and face him, the other four men were looking back at him as he glared at them.

Hiccup frowned. Normally he moved at a speed that people just couldn't follow. It shouldn't be possible for those men to be glaring at him right now.

_Is it a coincidence?_

Cautiously Hiccup backed away instead of charging them as he intended. It wouldn't hurt to take his precautions before taking them down. Once he was near Astrid again, he looked again at those four.

_What about now?_

However they were still looking at him straight in the eyes when he just moved from 10 yards in 0.005 seconds. Hiccup couldn't help the cold chill that went down his spine. It shouldn't be possible by human standards for them to follow his movement. And yet they did.

His bad feeling got even worse as he stare wide-eyed at them. Their expression was still devoid of any emotion and their eyes were those of a dead fish but for a moment he thought he saw a blue light passing through their pupils.

_Don't tell me…_

Meanwhile Astrid followed Night Fury's advice and took no chance. She immediately pulled out her gun and aimed at the members of Helheim's Gate. There will be no warning shot. If they didn't comply immediately, she was ready to shoot to kill. She would not give cop killers any chance to do more damage.

"BCPD! Drop your guns and put your arm in the air!"

Dean threw her a disinterested look before he noticed Night Fury. Immediately he yelled orders to the Nadders while running for cover behind the black UMV.

"What are you waiting for?! Shoot them!"

Hiccup was about to stop them when he stopped in his tracks as he saw the four men draw their gun to shoot.

Fast. They were incredibly fast. Fast enough that Hiccup considered it fast by his standards. It was an impossible for human speed.

He won't be able to make it to them before they opened fire. And the worst part was that they weren't looking at him but at Astrid.

_Sh*t!_

In a sudden change of direction, he ran to Astrid instead of the four men. But as he was about to take her to safety, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. A bullet just went through his right shoulder at the exact spot where Astrid was. If he had been a tenth of a second slower it would have end up into Astrid's head.

Despite the excruciating pain spreading from his shoulder, he didn't let go of Astrid and ran to cover. As he did he turned his neck to look at those men who just shot at him. What he saw jolted his mind. As he feared, they were calmly looking at him and were adjusting their aim to match his movements.

He pushed back the pain and panic that were rising fast and concentrated on a simple objective: moving faster. If he didn't they were both dead.

As he moved towards the house, Hiccup could felt bullets flying behind him, passing way too close for his comfort near. His shoulder could heal but he doubted that, if hit his head could.

And just he thought he was finally safe as he passed the corner of the house, he saw bullets passing through the walls.

_I need to go further behind, they must be piercing bullets._

Pushing himself once again, he ran around the house and finally stopped at the back door where he was sure they couldn't see him anymore. Only then did he drop Astrid on the ground rather roughly before he taking a knee.

"Odin's freezing balls! Why did you stop me from shooting? I had it under control, I'll have stop them before they could have done anything!"

Despite the pain Hiccup couldn't help the small smile on his lips. Astrid would always be Astrid.

Apparently she didn't realized how much of a close call it has just been.

"You didn't hear that you were shot at?"

"They shot at me? I didn't hear because every time you moved me all sounds got jumbled together and I can't hear anything. But you say those guys just fired at us? How can that be? I didn't see anything and-"

Only then did Astrid notice that Night Fury was holding his shoulder, blood dripping on his fingers.

"Wait! They hit you? What happened? Ain't you faster than bullets?"

"Not so many question at once." complained Hiccup in a hiss of pain.

He moved his hand and took a look at his injured shoulder. The wound was clean, the bleeding already stopped and it showed the first signs of speedy healing. It won't immediately heal but in one or two days he would be as good as new.

"To answer your questions in order. Yes they shot at you. Yes I just said they fired at us. I don't know exactly how that can be but I have a strong suspicion. Yes they hit me. What happened is that they shot me. And no I'm no faster than bullets."

Even in this state Hiccup was still Hiccup and he couldn't help his wits and sarcasms. But despite his humor, those four creepy men really bothered Hiccup. They showed abilities that shouldn't be humanly possible. The only person he knew who could do that was he, and it lead to only one possible explanation. He just didn't want to admit it; the consequences were just too terrifying.

"You're not faster than bullets? Then how come you've never been hit so far?"

As it wasn't a bad way to forget the pain and let his shoulder heal a bit, Hiccup absentmindedly answered Astrid's question while trying to find any explanation for those men's abilities that wouldn't have such terrifying consequences.

Without realizing he entered his lecture mode as he explained to Astrid.

"Low-power handguns can fired bullets at an initial velocity not far below the speed of sound and high power handguns and rifles can fire bullets faster than the speed of sound. With high-speed bullets, some rifles can send bullets up to 5 times the speed of sound. It's far above the speed I can run. I'm fast but not that fast. The speed of sound is 340 meter per second and my top speed that I measured so far is of 304 meter per second. The reason I managed to avoid bullets so far is that I'm too fast for people to aim correctly at me. When they pressed the trigger I'm already far away from where they last saw me. Moreover my kinetic vision is greatly superior to a regular person and allows me to notice when a trigger is pressed or when a _"slow"_ bullet is coming my way and with my enhanced reflexes I can somehow dodge regular handguns."

He interrupted his explanation as he tried to see if he could move his shoulder. It was painful but his body repaired enough so that the wound won't reopen if he moved. He should soon be capable to use his arm again without too much pain. After all he didn't want a repeat of last time when he passed out from the pain.

Once he was done checking himself, he continued to explain again.

"However those men we just saw they are using high-power handguns with high-speed bullets. I barely saw the bullet when it hit me earlier."

Astrid nodded as she has a better idea of what happened. She didn't expect Night Fury to be injured when he was so fast but she understood that even him had his limits.

"But it will be okay, right? It was a lucky shot; they hit you only because they are using those kinds of bullets. They should not be able to got you again because as you said you are too fast for people to aim at you. Once you're feeling better, you should be able to easily subdue them right?"

Her words were hopeful but somehow it didn't put her at ease. Her guts were telling her that there was something else.

"..."

For once Night Fury stayed silent. It really wasn't helping the uneasiness growing inside of her. She could only conclude one thing:

"It wasn't a lucky shot, was it?"

Hiccup nodded gloomily, confirming Astrid's doubt. In an unusually serious tone he spoke again.

"As soon as we arrived here, I went to check the officers on the ground and I noticed that they were looking at me. When I moved back, they kept looking at me. That shot wasn't a coincidence, those men are somehow able to follow my movements."

"But that's impossible! You're telling me that they have a miraculous kinetic vision on par with yours?"

"And that's not the worst. Their movements when they opened fire were fast. Like impossibly fast. That's why I didn't attack them but rather took you to cover."

"You said their movements were fast. How fast are we talking?"

"My kind of fast."

"How is it possible?! They can move as fast as you? That's why you got shot? How? No human can as fast as you! The only way it would be possible would be if…"

Astrid suddenly interrupted herself. She just arrived at the same conclusion than Hiccup reached earlier. However what it implied… it was simply too much to be told out loud. If it was true then…

"Yes. It is as you think. They are most likely using some Speed Force."

"But how can that be? Ain't you the only one you can use it?"

"I have a few ideas on the subject but it will have to wait. They are probably on the move again, we can't waste any more time."

Hiccup moved his shoulder again. It was still painful but it was bearable.

"I'll take care of the men in front of the house, you enter by the back and get the officer out of here."

"Wait! If what you said is true then they should be able to move just like you. You lost your only weapon against them. You can't go back like that! An unarmed man can't fight on equal ground against four armed men. It's insane, you'll get yourself killed."

Despite the urgent situation, a small smile stretched on his lips as he saw Astrid worrying about him.

"Are you perhaps worried about me?"

"Don't kid yourself! Who will be worried about you? I just can't let an unarmed civilian died like that."

However, in contrast of her indifferent front, she couldn't hide a small blush on her cheeks.

Seeing her cutely blushing while wearing a fierce face like that ignited something deep in Hiccup's heart. She was so… Astrid. The incredibly brave and yet unbelievably cute Astrid. Astrid who was worried about him. Once again the urge to kiss her surged up like a geyser inside him and caught him unprepared. As always he could feel his love for her growing out of random things he just couldn't predict despite his best effort.

But he couldn't let himself forgot the current situation and he quickly put it under control. He couldn't afford to make a mistake now or lives could be lost. And this time if he wasn't careful, it might very well lost his own life. Especially considering what he was about to face.

Those four men were the first real menace he faced that could kill him since he got his powers. He couldn't be careless on this one.

"Don't worry I don't intend to die here. Even if those four are using Speed Force, I don't think they have the same abilities as me or they would have followed us here. My guess is that the Speed Force greatly enhanced their reflexes and kinetic vision but they can't run and move like me. And even for those part, I think I'm still a bit faster than them so their aim shouldn't be that good. I'll run around them and try to keep them busy while you evacuate the house with the surviving officer. And if I see a chance, only then will I try to take them down."

Astrid wanted to protest that there was still too much of a risk: even if he said he was a bit faster than them, that didn't mean they wouldn't be able to shot him. No matter what, when the field is leveled, having one person running unarmed around four armed men couldn't be considered a plan. But she kept it to herself as she knew that there was no talking him out of it: even if it was a bad plan, it was still the only plan they had.

Not waiting for her to agree, he immediately moved out to face Dean and his Nadders. He did it in the nick of time. They tried to enter by the front door but it was blocked so they tried to enter by the window. Hiccup arrived just as they broke the window. When they heard the cry of the Night Fury moving their way, they promptly backed away and Dean immediately yelled his orders before even seeing him.

"Shoot him! Shoot Night Fury!"

The Nadders turned in the direction of the cry and opened fire just as Hiccup was coming out of the corner of the house at full speed.

Thus began the most dangerous run of Hiccup's life.

* * *

Astrid didn't waste any time and immediately entered the house. She methodically checked her surroundings as she progressed on the first floor. The house was quite spacious but almost completely empty. There weren't any furniture in any rooms except for a sleeping bag and a small bag with clothes and food in it that were left near the back door.

She quickly walked by, leaving the kitchen and entering the corridor leading to the front door. When she made the turn she heard a noise behind her. She immediately moved down in case she was attacked and turned at the same time as she aimed at the source the noise.

"Gustav?"

"A-Astrid? Is that you?"

Gustav and Astrid's mother had been friend for a long time and both of them lived in the same neighborhood. They often met each other when they were younger but him being five years younger than Astrid, Gustav felt more like an annoying little brother than a childhood friend. For his part, Gustav greatly admired Astrid ever since he was young and entered the BCPD because he wanted to follow after her steps.

Right now, Gustav had positioned himself in the stairs with a direct view to the front door and the adjacent windows but without exposing himself to the outside. He was looking quite panicked and nervous but he nonetheless remembered his training and took a tactical position while securing the suspect that was with him on the second floor. However his advantageous position was meaningless compared to the shooting speed of a Nadder.

"Gustav, you're the officer who called for backup? How did you get mix up with that mess?"

"I- I- I…"

He didn't seem able to finish his sentence as he could help himself to jump a little every time he heard a shot being fired outside. As Night Fury has appeared in front of them, the Nadders were shooting non-stop at him.

Gustav's reaction was understandable but Astrid had no time for that right now.

"Gustav! Focus! Explain the situation to me. Now!"

"Y-yes! Err… I- I was patrolling with Sam, my senior officer partner, and Alex and his senior officer, Big Bear. So far we didn't encounter anything very dangerous when a lady stopped us and asked if we could check a house where she saw a suspicious person entered earlier while the house was supposed to be empty. We came to check and Sam let me lead the questioning as a test for me. The guy who answered was suspicious so I decided to enter. At that moment we heard a car stopped in front of the house. Sam, Big Bear and Alex took care of it when I suddenly heard rapid-fire shots. I went back to see and found all three of them on the floor, bleeding. Before the attackers could shoot me I close the door and blocked it with the ladder and cement bag near the entrance. Afterwards I call for help and took position here where you scared the hell out of me."

"Alright, I get it. You said there was someone suspicious in the house, what did you do with him?"

"I didn't want him to ran away so I cuffed him to a heater upstairs. But how did you get here so fast? It hasn't been a minute since I called for help."

But Astrid ignored him and gave him instructions.

"It's not important. I got someone who's keeping busy the men in front of the house. You take the suspect with you and leave at the back. You can't let them see you leave. You'll cut across the garden of the other houses and move two streets south of here. Avoid staying in the street the most you can. If you met people on your way, instruct them to go inside and lock themselves. Once you moved two streets south, walk up the street to Haddock's Park. There wait for backup. I'll give further instructions later."

"Alright. But what about Sam? Alex and Big Bear? Shouldn't we help them? We can't let them outside."

"Sorry Gustav. The one helping me checked up on them, they're dead. There is nothing we can do for them anymore."

"Wha- I- They're dead?"

Gustav was visibly shocked and stopped moving as he looked dumbly at Astrid before staring at the outside window.

Astrid never been good at telling that someone they knew is dead. She's never been good at being sensitive. She understood it must been a shock for Gustav but she needed him to move right now.

"Gustav. I understand you're in shock but you need to go now. There was nothing you could have done before, they died instantly. However right now there is something you can do that would avoid more people to die."

Gustav was still shaken but managed to regain some of his bearings. Astrid had given a mission and he must accomplish it.

"O-okay. Astrid, what will you do?"

"I'll see if I can provide some help to the person distracting those men outside."

Gustav, seemingly satisfied by that answer, didn't ask any further questions and promptly moved to the second floor to get the suspect.

Meanwhile Astrid discreetly crawled near the window to observe what was happening outside.

To be honest she couldn't tell much of what is happening, Night Fury was simply moving too fast. She can somehow saw his movements from the remnants of the Speed Force he was leaving behind. It made strings of purple lightning that were tracing his every move.

For the moment the situation seemed to be in a stalemate: Night Fury didn't seem to be able to move close enough of the five men standing on the lawn near the doorstep to subdue them but he didn't seem to get shot by them either.

One of them was yelling order as he ran to the black UMV they came with. Obviously he was trying to run from the bullets that were raining everywhere around him. In contrast the four others stayed perfectly calm and expressionless, standing in the middle of the front lawn and shooting non-stop at Night Fury.

Judging by how fast they were shooting, she guessed they were those who shot Night Fury in the shoulder earlier and were using the Speed Force. As none of them seemed to notice her, Astrid used that opportunity to observe those four men carefully. They were in some kind of black uniform with a red logo on it. She couldn't see it clearly but she would bet anything that some kind of ancient heavy gate was figuring in it as only Helheim's Gate could create such soldiers.

But the most notable thing about them was how fast they were shooting. Their arm were like a blur as the fire shots emanating from their handguns were going so fast that it sounded like they were using an automatic weapon. The nozzles of their guns were constantly moving, leaving behind afterimage of spouting flames of faster than the speed of sounds bullets. As the afterimage connected with each others it created lines of fire circling in the air as it was coursing after the lightning trails that Night Fury was leaving behind.

She had to admit that it was a very impressive sight, easily equaling the CGI effects of the most recent movies. But more importantly, she had to admit she was absolutely no match for them. If Night Fury hadn't been there earlier she would have been dead for sure. No human could match those men. The only one who could stand a chance against them was without a doubt Night Fury. The only other person using the Speed Force; because after seeing that otherworldly fight happening right in front of her eyes there was no doubt in her mind that the men in front of her were all using the Speed Force.

_But how can they use it?_

Astrid heard movements behind her and guessed it was Gustav returning with the suspect. She did immediately turned over, preferring observing a bit longer the fight outside, the mind filled with question.

No doubt it was Helheim's Gate, only them had Speed Force but how they could already use the Speed Force? The amounts they got surely was enough that they could randomly waste it so why were those super soldiers of them here? What did they want? Kill Night Fury?

Questions kept on circling around in Astrid's mind without never finding any answers as she tried to somehow find some illumination by watching Night Fury and the Nadders fight each other. After a few seconds of staring in awe outside, she finally shook off of her lethargic state.

It was no use to ask questions she had no mean to answer. She had no time to waste on any of those questions and a lot of urgent things to do. After letting out a soft sigh she left the window and watched Gustav going down the stairs accompanied by another man. Most likely the suspect who had been handcuffed upstairs. Gustav was focused on the mission Astrid gave him while the other man was looking extremely nervous, at the limit of panicking every time a fire was shot. As they passed by her, he threw a fleeting glance to Astrid.

For a second he looked extremely familiar and at the same time a stranger. Confused, she frowned and was about to ask his name when she suddenly remembered. Ironically, a few seconds ago she was trying to find some illumination to the questions troubling her mind as she observed the outside fight while the illumination she was waiting for was actually right behind her, handcuffed at the second floor. Despite the precarious situation she was in where several of her colleagues died, when the answer to most of her questions literally appeared right in front of her face, she inwardly roared.

She now knew why Helheim's Gate was here.

* * *

Hiccup had never been in so much danger before in his short life as a superhero. During his relatively short career, he faced guns fired at him more time than he can count and nearly every criminal AND police officers he encountered wanted him dead. However he always was quite confident that with his power he could easily avoid danger. Even at times when things got a little bit out of hand, he never feared for his life as he did today.

Currently he was in a situation where, every time he would move to face those weird expressionless guys mechanically shooting at him, he had no confidence he would be able to avoid them. He would run towards them with his heart throbbing wildly and fear and adrenaline pumping in every fiber of his being and changed direction at the very last limit when he felt that a step further and wouldn't be able to avoid the bullets raining on him.

That tactic was very wreaking emotionally and he made very little progress so he only used it a few times before trying other approaches to find a way to stop them. First he needed to know more about what his opponents were able to do.

He didn't know exactly how many abilities the Speed Force was giving them but the little abilities it gave them were more than enough to level the field. For what he could see those men from Helheim's Gate had a kinetic vision equaling his and could move their arms almost as fast as him. If he was to make a guess, their arms were moving at 60% of the speed he himself could do. Combined it with those guns with high-speed bullets and it was more than enough to push him into a corner.

He tried every trick he knew to get closer to them but none were working as they didn't take a single step away from their original position. He tried forcing them to empty their guns and attacked them when they were reloading. He noticed that they looked like robots and thought that they would overlook a small mistake like that. But those four were correctly working as a team as they would stop shooting a bit before the end of their magazine and one of them would reload while the three others would cover for him. That way there were always three of them shooting at him. Moreover they were all able to reload at incredible speed, almost as fast as they were shooting. As for the idea of them running out of bullets, Dean tossed from the car a bag filled with spare magazines at each of them.

He then tried to lure them away from the house where was Astrid by circling around them further and further away from the house but to no avail. They didn't move and continued to mechanically shoot at Hiccup.

He also tried to run in random patterns to trick them into thinking he would came out one way when he would actually come running the other way. Again to no avail. He even played with turning on and off Thunderdrum to throw them off but it was also useless.

Even when he managed to surprise some of them from their blind spots, the four of them covered each other's backs and quickly suppressed him.

He just wasn't fast enough to take all of them by surprise.

The only thing that kept him alive so far was the fact he was still faster than them, throwing off their aim. They kept missing him by a small margin, a bit too close for Hiccup's comfort, especially when he ran towards them and avoided at the last moment. A normal person would feel frustrated to always miss him by so little each time and would end up feeling frustrated and angry. In the end their concentration would crumble and their aim would get worse. But those zombies like men didn't show a single shred of emotion and kept shooting at him with the same chirurgical precision. Not only did their aim didn't get worse but it actually got better as they were getting used to Hiccup's speed. If he had ran just a bit below his top speed, they would have already hit Hiccup.

In the end the situation was stuck in a stalemate but definitely not one in Hiccup's favor. But at least he managed to accomplish his primary goal: stopping them from entering the house.

However if he didn't a way out of that stalemate soon, he would surely end up dead like those three officers collapsed in front of the entryway. He couldn't act mechanically like those four gloomy guys at some point he will sure enough make a mistake that would cost him his life. He had to find a solution before that.

_Think! Think! Think, Hiccup! It's the only thing you're good at! What can you do? You must find a solution, something you didn't think of already! And fast!_

But no matter how much he squeezed his brains he couldn't find anything that would have even a slight chance to succeed.

However as despair was flooding his brains, a small change happened in the fight. While Hiccup was wreaking his brain, one of the Nadders who moved to reload his gun suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood. It was over in a moment as he immediately moved back to reload his gun and started to shoot once again as if nothing happened. One could have missed it but it didn't go unnoticed by Hiccup.

He took a closer look at those four Nadders and noticed something in each of them. They were showing signs of exhaustion and the Nadder who just let out a mouthful of blood looked visibly paler and skinnier than before. But it wasn't just him. All of them had a small stream of blood flowing down from their mouth and seemed to have lost weight since the beginning of the fight. Their eyes were also visibly red and in all looked weaker than before.

However it wasn't affecting their performances as they continued to shoot at him with the same speed as before and with the same accuracy. Moreover, the bluish glow of Speed Force under their clothes he felt before wasn't getting dimmer but was getting brighter instead.

Hiccup quickly put the pieces together. Their body was getting at tired fast and necessitated to build up more Speed Force to keep the same level of performances. For Hiccup it looked as if they were slowly building up power for a final charge at the expense of their own body.

But before he could continue his way of thinking, a sudden call from Astrid to Hiccup's phone surprised him.

_Sh*t!_

He was tempted to ignore her but he knew about her situation. If she tried to call Hiccup it must quite urgent. He couldn't answer in such noise as fires were shot everywhere.

He quickly ran to cover behind a nearby house and answered while making sure to change his voice back to Hiccup. In his head, he knew that he must finish this call fast or else the Nadders won't wait for him and would enter the house where Astrid was in.

"Astrid? What is it?"

_"""Hiccup, I don't have much time. I'm with the officer who called for help, it's Gustav. The other three officers with him are already dead. The situation is a bit more complicated than we thought. The aggressors are from Helheim's Gate and are using Speed Force. They managed to hit Night Fury in the shoulder and he's currently keeping them busy. I'm not sure if he can defeat them and I'll try to help him I can but you need to call back the others patrol cars coming here. They won't be able to help here and they'll just end up dead for nothing."""_

"Ok I'll do it immediately. But if they are just as dangerous as you said they were you won't be able to do much either. It'll be better if you cover Gustav."

_"""I know I might do much but that's not what he's important now. I need you to send those patrol cars at Haddock's Park."""_

"Is it to pick up Gustav?"

_"""Yes but not just him. There was someone else in the house and it's likely that Helheim's Gate came for him. We need to get him somewhere safe ASP."""_

"Ok, I'll change the direction of the incoming patrols from the house to Haddock's Park. Who is it they came for?"

_"""..."""_

"Astrid?"

_"""It's ironic that just when I told myself I will let that matter go I stumbled upon him."""_

"Stumbled upon who?"

_"""Eric Walkers."""_

Hiccup took a cold breath at that name.

_Eric Walkers? Isn't that…_

"The guy you were looking for? The friend of the guy who got tortured then killed? The one who got a picture of Night Fury?"

_"""Yes, him. Apparently he was hiding here illegally, a patrol came to check it after a neighbor called upon him but they sadly arrived at the same time as Helheim's Gate men. That's how we got in the current mess."""_

Hiccup's mind was still processing that new information. Now he had a much clearer view of what was actually happening here. He was wondering why Helheim's Gate sent those men who were obviously their elite. He supposed it was another ambush towards him but it turned out it was actually a stroke of luck that he met them. They were most likely here for Eric Walker and that photo of his. And those men using Speed Force were actually a trump card of Helheim's Gate that he was sure they wanted to keep secret. Thanks to it he learned a lot about the current state of Helheim's Gate forces. They had way stronger trump cards than he thought they had but if he was to judge from what he saw so far, the technology for their trump cards was not complete. The assimilation of the Speed Force was forced into them and it destroyed their body. They most likely can't sustain the use of the Speed Force for a long time at the risks it cripples them definitely. It was very likely it could even end up killing them if they weren't careful.

The fact that he met those Nadders that early was in fact a disguised good fortune. If Helheim's Gate had managed to plan an ambush with more of them he would almost certainly end up dead. He might not even be able to avoid the first shots.

But the Nadders weren't his only problem right now. He couldn't let Helheim's Gate take a hold of Eric Walkers but he also couldn't let Astrid and the BCPD see that picture either. What to do? He can't let him in that house for Helheim's Gate to take him, nor could let him climb in a police car at Haddock's Park after which he might not be able to take his phone before Astrid or others.

However he couldn't reject Astrid's plan. After all he, Hiccup, is supposed to also want to arrest Night Fury and he had no reason to oppose Astrid's plan which he quite good. On the opposite he should be all for it.

_What to do?! Whatever I do it'll end badly for me! I can end up killed by those guys, let them take Eric Walkers or having Astrid find out whom I am._

He couldn't tell which one would worst however he had no time to find out. He already waited too long to answer.

_"""Hiccup?"""_

Hiccup has been silent for a long time and Astrid was worried he misinterpreted her motivation. They just had a large fight because she was too adamantly looking for Eric Walkers and now, when they finally made up and she made a genuine effort to put aside her obsession for Night Fury, she stumbled upon the very guy she desperately wanted to find. She feared that Hiccup thought she once again completely ignored Helheim's Gate and focused only chasing Night Fury.

However, she really was prioritizing Helheim's Gate over Night Fury. Otherwise she would have went with Gustav instead of staying behind to help Night Fury fights off Helheim's Gate. Even if she were to be honest, she terribly wanted to go with them and have a look at that picture.

_"""I'm not trying to once again prioritize the picture of Night Fury over Helheim's Gate but he's a civilian and we really ought to-"""_

However she got cut off but the calm voice of Hiccup as she needlessly worried.

"Don't worry Astrid, I get it. Your plan is good, I'm going to change the dispatch order of the incoming patrols. Make Gustav and Eric go to Haddock's Park and there will backup waiting for them there. While I do that, I know that I can't dissuade you from facing those men from Helheim's Gate but please take no risk. Judging by what you told me, if they're really using Speed Force, you stand no chance against those guys. Be careful."

Astrid didn't respond as she darkly nodded and ended the call. A glint of determination shined in her eyes as she looked at Gustav and Eric Walkers.

Now she'll finally strike back.

* * *

At the same time Astrid ended the call, Hiccup once again ran to face the Nadders. He did so just in the nick of time as the Nadders were once again moving towards the house as they assumed he had ran away.

The Nadders still looked quite weaker than at the beginning but their faces had regained some colors and were no longer as pale as before. As Hiccup thought, they couldn't use continuously the Speed Force but could partially recover after some rest.

If he chose to play it safe, the best strategy would be to keep running around them like before and forced them to exhaust their body and the Speed Force they used to try and shoot him. Once they couldn't use the Speed Force anymore he would be able to easily subdue them and end up that dangerous situation for him. If he pushed them in a stamina contest they weren't a threat to him anymore.

However doing so would waste too much time and Eric Walkers would end up in the BCPD's hands and he had no guarantee he would be able to intercept that picture before Astrid or someone else sees it. He had to subdue the Nadder before that and moved to intercept him.

Thus Hiccup decided to try an all-or-nothing move and blindly ran at full speed towards the Nadders. Now was the time were their guards was the lowest and they no longer expect him to arrive. Using that slight reaction gap he should be able to subdue them before they shot at him again. It was the only plan Hiccup managed to come up with where he would be able to stop the Nadders and intercept Eric Walkers to destroy that photo of him. But it was a huge gamble and would only work if he were fast enough to pull it off.

When he saw them in front of him he pushed himself like never before, putting all his concentration into directing all of his power into his legs. He needed to break his speed record and muster all the speed he was capable in that boost of speed that could mean the difference between success and failure.

As he was putting every fiber of being in that one run, he felt as if the world around him was disappearing to leave only him and his goal visible. However Hiccup didn't let it distract him, on the contrary he dived deeper in that feeling as he felt that it would help him getting faster.

Pretty soon even his goal began to disappear into darkness in his field of vision, leaving only him forward. In his mind it was as if time had slowed down considerably and everything seemed to just stop. Hiccup got the sensation that at that moment, although his mind felt as if he was moving

Slowly, he was running faster than his top-speed, breaking his speeding record at every step.

However he sensed it wasn't the limit of that strange state. As he focused in an even deeper level of concentration and sensation, he no longer felt his own body. Everything was dark except for the Speed Force. He could no longer feel anything apart from the Speed Force. Even the sensation of time seemed to have disappeared.

Then Hiccup interested himself at the Speed Force he was sensing. It was grand and powerful, a brilliant lightning sun and an abyss without end. It seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It was something fascinating for which Hiccup couldn't find words to describe. He felt like observing the Speed Force will bring answers to every question he ever asked himself and at the same time a thousands times more. It was like feeling the secret of the universe at the tips of your fingers as you felt you were in fact grasping at nothing but air. A fulfilling and yet infinitely frustrating sensation that seemed to exist only by contradiction.

However, as much he would like to spend more time trying to elucidate the mystery of the Speed Force and the strange state he found himself in, Hiccup was filled by a sense of emergency as he knew time didn't really stop and if he didn't manage to bring back the consciousness of his body and his surroundings he would undoubtedly ended up dead and crashed into a wall. He knew he went too deep and needed to get out.

What was happening is that his extreme concentration and the focus on his inner senses somehow overlapped themselves with his ability of accelerate his thoughts in his desperate attempt to run faster. It allowed him increased by tens of times the sensation of his body unlocking the access to more Speed Force. In turn it flowed his mind with even more Speed Force that further more increased the effect as he concentrated deeper into himself. Right now he went in so deep into his mind and inner sensations that actually managed to sense that energy from another dimension that was appearing in every single cells of his body. He never felt it so clearly before and unknowingly he actually managed to catch a glimpse of that other dimension that we call the Speed Force.

It was something no one ever managed to do, to actually manage to sense another dimension that the one your senses limited you to. At this moment, Hiccup could say that he was experimenting five dimensions: the three dimensions of space -width, height and depth-, time and Speed Force. Staying in that state for a long enough time would allow him to greatly progress in his comprehension of what is the Speed Force and bring him big benefices.

When he first got his powers, Hiccup couldn't activate his power on purpose. He panicked quite a bit at the time as he didn't understood what was happening to him. He couldn't feel the Speed Force separately of himself and activated his powers randomly. He had a lot of trouble to differentiate whether or not he was using his powers or not. But after a week he started to somehow sense a different energy in him. When he realized it, it was actually the first time he successfully activated his powers on purpose. Ever since, as he kept using it, he had a better grasp of that feeling and was able to somehow tune the output of his powers and the depth with which he could access the Speed Force. But his understanding of his power stayed very basic.

Only once he collected that data on himself and actually discovered that the Speed Force was the energy of another dimension he could access, did he made leaps and bounds progress to master his powers. He couldn't feel if an upper limit existed of how fast he could go and began to understand that his powers can do much more than just running fast. He realized he could think faster, accelerate his body healing, and run up walls or that the Speed Force could make him stronger than normal when he is using it.

All the progresses he made were intimately linked to his comprehension of the Speed Force and its uses. The fact that could now examined up close in his body that dimension of the Speed Force could bring him unimaginable progress to his powers.

However Hiccup instinctively sensed correctly that this state was dangerous. As he lost himself in contemplation of the Speed Force, his senses was falsely deluded in the sensation that time stopped. Time didn't actually stopped and Hiccup was still moving extremely fast towards the Nadders. His mind was just locked in super speed thinking where his mind could think a thousand times faster than normal and gave him the sensation that time stopped. As his body was moving, his mind was still stuck in deep contemplation on his body sensation and completely blocked any external sensation and information to reach Hiccup. His mind was like a racecar racing at full speed into the circuit but with no one driving as the pilot was contemplating his motor, trying to understand how it was making the car move. No need to be a genius to guess what will happen to the car and the pilot if didn't soon stop watching the motor and put his hand back onto the wheel.

Right now Hiccup didn't know how to put his hand back onto the wheel. He lost all connection and sensation to his body as his mind and sense where overloaded with the Speed Force. He tried hard to change the focus of his concentration on his body but he just couldn't feel it anymore, he didn't know where to focus himself on. The only thing he felt was the glimpse into the Speed Force that emanated from the energy of his cells accessing the Speed Force.

It was frustrating to be able to sense the energy coming from every cell of his body but not be able to feel a single cell of his body. It was like being able to feel on your skin the vibrations in the air of music but not be able to actually hear that music. Or being able to smell water and not be able to drink it. Frustrating to the extreme.

Just when he felt he was about to lose his mind, he sensed something in the energy of his cells he didn't noticed before. It was small so he didn't pay any mind before but now he realized that there was a small amount of energy that was acting like the rest. This small amount of energy was moving. The Speed Force wasn't supposed to move in his body. He learned with his experiments that the Speed Force wasn't created and stocked in his body but rather every cells of his body was capable of accessing and harnessing that energy of another dimension. As such, when he activated his powers, each cell accessed the Speed Force and boosted itself, and sometimes objects in contact with him. However right now he could feel some Speed Force circling inside him that wasn't connected to the rest of the Speed Force.

_What is it? It seems to be moving continuously inside my body. It contains Speed Force that isn't freshly accessed like the rest of my cells and-_

Suddenly his thought actually stopped of a short moment as he realized what he said.

He could sense it moving around his body! He could feel his body again!

It didn't matter what that fragment of Speed Force was, the more important part was that it was his entry point to put his hands on the wheel again. He poured all his concentration onto it and especially focused on the movement of that fragment of Speed Force. It was moving fast but he began to recognize the region it was passing through and a wave of blocked sensation began to surge inside him. He felt his lungs, his arm, his fingers then it moved to his legs and all his organs. At each cycle of this piece of Speed Force he felt a new part of his body: his back, his toes, his feet, his heart, his mouth and finally his head.

At that moment, the world appeared again in front of him and he was back in his own body. The super speed thinking stopped and he was back to normal, hands on the wheel. The only difference was that he could still feel that small piece of Speed Force coursing through his body.

However he didn't forgot that dangerous situation he was in and immediately looked around him. He was only ten feet away from the Nadders, the closest he ever been from them. If he continued forward he could reach them and subdue them fairly fast.

But of course things wouldn't go his way that easily. He managed to somehow make a breakthrough in the Speed Force and move closer to the Nadders than ever before but he went back in control of his body, he actually stopped. Any surprise effect was lost and the Nadders were well aware he was there. In fact the moment he came back to himself they were already facing him, their guns pointing at him. Hiccup saw them pulled the trigger as he couldn't escape it.

A sense of imminent death flooded Hiccup's mind as he saw the murderous glint in the eyes of the Nadders. Without hesitation, all four of them pulled the trigger at the same time.

Hiccup didn't think about it, he didn't have time for that. Squeezing every ounce of his newfound piece of Speed Force, he directed it to his legs and desperately ran to the left, trying by some miracle to somehow dodge the bullets coming his way.

He barely made it. Two bullets passed a few inches right of him, one grazed his shoulder pad but the last one hit his already injured shoulder.

As he felt the bullet passing through him, Hiccup decided to not waste any time and ran towards the house, bracing himself for the soon to follow bullets that will be coming his way.

Lucky enough as they had moved closer, Hiccup was now just in front of the house where Astrid was and used the card that most people forget he had. The Nadders moved to aim at the way they predicted Hiccup would go. They knew he could either move right towards the corner of the house or left towards the door and go inside the house or ran to the other corner. Without consulting each other they each aimed in a different direction.

However Hiccup kept going forwards and suddenly put his foot on the wall and began to move upwards. The Nadders had forgot that he could move in another dimension compared to other people and watched him run up the wall. By the time they correct their aim, he had already disappear behind the roof. This surprising way of moving was often overlook and Hiccup purposely didn't used it before when he was trying to get closer to the Nadders so they were not wary of him coming down a wall. Instead he tried to trick them with moving from one side to another of a hiding spot and playing with Thunderdrum to make them drop their guards. He wanted to reserve running on wall for an all-out surprise.

But he used it to escape and now they'll make sure to watch for it if he tried to use it again. Nonetheless he didn't regret his decision as a secret move is useless once you're dead. Thanks to his prompt decision and his sudden boost in speed, he was injured but alive. As he was once again in the backyard of the house where Astrid was, he stopped at the same place he did before when he was injured for a brief moment and examined his new wound on his right shoulder.

His shoulder was a mess and blood was freely flowing. A new hole was decorating his shoulder, not far from the first one. Like last time the bullet went through him and he felt his body already moving to heal this new injury. However vast amount of pain flooded his senses, carrying him on the verge of passing out. But for a short while he could somehow bear it as his activities as a vigilante vastly increased his tolerance to pain.

He gently touched his shoulder. Bad idea. He stifled a groan as a scream of pain was fighting the way up his throat. He barely held on a shred of consciousness as he reminded himself of what was at stake. After a few pained breaths, he managed to stay conscious. But being able to stay conscious didn't solve his problems. After seeing how much pain he was from barely touching his shoulder, he knew that he couldn't move for the moment. Luckily, after the failed attempt he just did, the Nadders won't move into the house immediately in case he was once again attempting to take them by surprise but nonetheless he knew he couldn't stay hidden for too long.

Hiccup gave another look to his wounds. The first one was healing quite nicely while the other just began the healing process. This time his collarbone was completely shattered. He could feel the muscle of his back moving to push the fragments of his collarbone back together. The process will be excruciatingly painful making him unable to move at the risk of passing out from pain. If he waited a few minutes, he might have heal enough for the pain to diminish to bearable levels but he doubted that those men from Helheim's Gate would give him that kind of time.

_What am I gonna do?_

Hiccup tried to touch his shoulder again, slower this time. But it was useless as another massive wave of pain hit him. He was effectively paralyzed and groaning in pain as he sat on the floor in the backyard of the house. He wasn't even sure that if Helheim's Gate's men were to arrive right now, he would be able to oppose any kind of resistance.

After letting out a soft sigh, he realized that the only thing he could do was to let his body heal itself and pray to heal fast. Trying to stir his mind away from the pain, he began to think back at that strange state he was before as he was charging the Nadders. It had been incredible and very dangerous. If it wasn't for that fragment of Speed Force he felt moving, he might still be stuck in his own mind. Curiously he cleared his mind and focused himself on that fragment of Speed Force he was feeling moving in his body. It was weaker than earlier but he could still clearly felt it. It definitely was some Speed Force but at the same time it was different to what he usually felt. To start with, it was actually circulating in his body something it never did before. Moreover he sensed that he could partially give directions to it as he did before when he wanted to avoid the bullets.

Usually, once he activated the Speed Force, it was activated everywhere in his body at the same time. But that fragment of Speed Force followed his will and could be sent to reinforce and boost parts of his body. He tried to focus more on it but the throbbing pain in his shoulder derailed his concentration. The fragment was too weak and the pain was too omnipresent for him to focus on it.

Groaning in frustration and in pain, he could only grit his teeth and wait for it to pass.

_I can't even determine what that fragment is. The only thing I know is that it can give me a small boost. But it's useless if I can't move. Moreover it-_

Suddenly he got an idea. It wasn't likely to work but he got nothing better to do

_A small boost that I can directed… Maybe…_

Holding his breath he took control of that circulating fragment and tried to direct it to his shoulder. Then he looked as the wounds began to close a bit quicker. A flabbergasted look appeared on his face as he didn't expect for it to actually work.

_I can use it to help me heal! What if I tried this?_

Once again he focused himself and tried to direct that small energy to another area. For a moment, nothing happened but just as he was about to give up he could feel that the pain was substantially alleviated.

_YES! I can direct it to solely fight the pain! Now I can move._

Cautiously he tried to move his shoulder. It was still painful but he could stand that level of pain.

He promptly jumped to his feet and glared in the direction where he knew the Nadders were waiting for him.

_Round 3._

He then disappeared in purple lightning.

* * *

Meanwhile, inside the house, Astrid could hear massive shots being fired outside and crouched forward as she neared the windows. Gustav already left some times ago and moments ago, the shots actually stopped before once again a few shots were fired again. A long silence followed afterwards.

Astrid had no idea what just happened and stayed hidden under the window. Her first thought was that the battle was over and one side. However she couldn't shake off her uneasy feeling and didn't try to take a look before knowing for sure which side was still standing.

Soon she heard the shrill voice of Dean yelling at the Nadders.

"Don't move from here! He might try to take us by surprise like last time. Kill Night Fury the moment he appeared!"

He didn't dare to step outside of his car and anxiously looked around, expecting Night Fury to arrive at any moment.

At first when Astrid heard Dean's voice she thought that they kill Night Fury but judging by the order Dean just gave the battle wasn't over but merely paused.

And a suddenly as it stopped, the battle started again as Night Fury once again stepped into the field.

Astrid used that occasion to once again take a look outside and made sure that Dean or the Nadders couldn't see her. Sticking close to the wall, she slowly moved to the window at the opposite side of the entrance that was slightly obfuscated by the outside vegetation.

Praying that no stray bullet would come her way, she took a quick look outside.

The good news was that the men from Helheim's Gate didn't notice her; the bad news was that it didn't looked like Night Fury was winning. It was hard to tell when everything was moving so fast but Night Fury didn't seem to be able to move closer to 10 feet of the four freaky men. It was closer than before but it still wasn't enough that he could overwhelm them. Moreover she could tell that he was pushing himself and wasn't he would be able to hold for long.

She knew that right now was the tipping point of the battle and she wanted to intervene in that battle it would be now.

However as she observed that battle far above human standards that was happening in front of her, she knew she couldn't attack the Nadders. Those four men were juiced with Speed Force and already showed extreme abilities and she wasn't clear of how much abilities they had. They might have the ability to dodge bullets like Night Fury and if they fired back she would be dead for sure. Moreover she didn't possessed special bullets as they did and could be sure that her police issued gun would be able to hit them. To top it all, even if she managed to hit one of them the other three were sure to kill before she could fire again.

In her situation attacking the Nadders would be dumb and stupid. She must find something else. There must be something she could do!

That was then that she moved her attention to the last man of Helheim's Gate, the one hiding in his car who occasionally yelled orders to the four Nadders. Clearly he wasn't using some Speed Force and didn't possess any special abilities. He was just your regular thug that you could find here in Berk and just like her he had trouble to follow what was happening between Night Fury and the Nadders.

An idea emerged in Astrid's mind. It was very risky, with really little chance to change anything to the situation, but it was the only thing she could think of. She once again observed the hard battle that Night Fury was fighting and she resolved herself to act foolishly dangerous, as would her stupid partner.

Taking a deep breath, she suddenly stood up in front of the window, gun in hand, and shot towards Dean who was hiding in his car.

Astrid wasn't a fool. She clearly noticed the strange comportment of the four Nadders and the blank look on their face. Her instincts were telling her that their power up with the Speed Force came at the cost of their mental abilities. If she was to judge by how they didn't move when Night Fury approached them when they first arrived, she guessed that those men were like puppets and couldn't move without being ordered to. So if she managed to kill the one giving the orders, she might be able to stop those four freaky Nadders at the same time.

Without hesitation, she revealed herself and opened fire at Dean. Unfortunately, the windshield of the black UMV was reinforced and bulletproof otherwise, stopping short what would have been a splendid headshot.

At first Dean almost didn't notice that he's been shot at. With all the fire shoots rapidly being fired by the Nadders going on everywhere, he didn't hear Astrid shooting at him. However he felt the impact on the windshield. He stared dumbly at it when he noticed that it was rapidly followed by other impacts forming a large spider web on the windshield. Only then did he notice Astrid.

When he realized Astrid was targeting him, he panicked and yelled orders to the Nadders as he ducked for cover behind the dashboard. The Nadders had noticed Astrid but paid no mind to him as she didn't obstructed them and continued to shoot at Night Fury as per their instructions.

"What are you doing you f*cking morons! Shoot her! Kill her now!"

As their orders changed, like one man, they all turned at the same time to face Astrid.

Hiccup who was charging from a hiding spot didn't hear what Dean said, as Thunderdrum in his helmet was turned off at the time. Dean's voice was completely deformed by the Doppler effect. But he saw the Nadders paused and noticed Dean gesticulating widely. Curious, he turned on the Thunderdrum and only caught the end part of Dean's yelling.

"-her! Kill her now!"

He felt like someone just poured cold ice on him as an overwhelming feeling of dread and horror filled his mind. At the moment he didn't see Astrid but his mind had already connected the dots before he was willing to accept it. Hoping to be wrong, he turned his head as he followed the direction of Dean's finger. It was as if a nightmare came true. He stared blankly at Astrid while in the corner of the eye he noticed the four Nadders doped with Speed Force turning around to shoot Astrid.

More out of instinct than consciously, he ran at top speed toward the Nadders to stop them. He didn't have time to consider what he was doing. He didn't have time to think that if the Nadders suddenly turned in his direction he wouldn't be able to avoid the bullets. He didn't have time to think about how much pain he would be in as he retrieved the fragment of Speed Force in him and directed it to boost his speed. The only thing in his mind was the urge to stop them from shooting Astrid.

Thick purple lightning bolts surrounded him as Berk heard the loudest Night Fury's scream in its history.

At twenty feet from the Nadders, he could see them looking at Astrid as finished turning around. Those bastards were clearly pushing themselves to turn that fast.

At ten feet from the Nadders, he saw them raising their arm.

At five feet from the Nadders, he saw them aiming at Astrid.

At two feet from the Nadders, Hiccup saw one of them about to pull the trigger.

Without thinking, he charged into him with all his weight behind. At almost the same time, 4 shots were fired.

The first one missed Astrid by a long shot. It was the shot fired by the Nadder that Hiccup had sent flying. The second and third bullets went crashing on the wall, a mere feet away from Astrid. As for the last one, it got really close as it grazed her arm.

Luckily for Astrid, when Hiccup crashed into the first Nadder, he created a small shockwave which, combined with the disturbance of the loud scream of his helmet, threw off the aim of the others Nadders.

It took some time to explain but all of this happened by the time it took Astrid to blink. She heard Dean shouted and before she could even duck under the window, a purple lightning bolt crashed heavily into the four Nadders. Immediately part of the wall around her exploded as she felt something brushed her arm and saw a black mass crashed at high speed into Dean's car.

But it didn't end there. As Hiccup attacked them and made them miss, he became a hindrance to the Nadders' mission. They needed to act to remove the obstacle before resuming their mission. Immediately the three remaining Nadders all moved at the same time to shoot at him. Pushing the Speed Force to the limit while ignoring the damage it made to their bodies, they moved at full speed to get rid of the disturbance.

Even if Hiccup moved faster than the Nadders, he wasn't fast enough to avoid them and move to cover before getting shot. His only way out was to be able to stop the three Nadders before one of them killed him. His mind was calm as he moved using the remnant of momentum he used to charge them.

Instinctively his body used the self-defense skills that Astrid had bash into him for the past month. He pushed the arm of the closer Nadder with a palm strike of his left arm that transformed into an elbow strike in the solar plexus. Then, before the Nadder hit the ground, he already moved to the next one. When he stood at arm reach of the Nadder, he ditched his gun and move to his hunting knife, much more efficient in close quarter. But before he even took it out, Hiccup hit him with a violent left hook on his chin. Another Nadder went down.

However the last one was a little further away on his right and was about to shoot. Ignoring all caution, Hiccup moved his right arm and pushed the nozzle of the gun in the air. Intense pain came out of his injured right shoulder as he did so but he grit his teeth and he pushed back the pain as he took a step forward to finish that fight. Taking no risk, Hiccup swept the Nadder's legs with a roundabout kick and finished him with a powerful heel kick in his ribs where he heard a loud crack coming out of his chest cavity.

_Finally it's over._

After defeating the last Nadder, the tension seemed to leave him as he fell down to his knees, breathing heavily in pain. With short panting he tried to once again control the pain of his shoulder and redirected the fragment of Speed Force to alleviate his pain.

Hesitantly he took a look at his shoulder to estimate the damage. The first wound was mostly closed and most of the healing process left to do was inside the shoulder. The second wound was about to follow the same way but due to the ill advised use of his right arm, it had reopened and fresh blood was leaking on his suit. However he wasn't that worried, as he feared it would have been worse. He knew that if he let it like that all external signs would disappear in a couple hours leaving the internal work to do. That one would take more time, moving his shoulder will be painful for the next week but at least there would be no external signs or scars left behind.

Hiccup let out a soft sigh; it would have been difficult to explain how he got bullet wounds if scars were left.

It's been the most dangerous situation he had been in all his life so far and yet it could have been worse. Yes, he was badly hurt and almost died numerous times but Astrid was still alive, he subdued all Speed Force juiced Helheim's Gate soldiers and even managed to prevent them from accomplishing what they came for.

The loud squealing of brakes suddenly disturbed his thoughts as Dean, sole remaining member of Helheim's Gate's group, was trying to flee in the car he came with. In full panic, he crashed into the patrol car as he backed away. Not caring one bit, he forced his way out and drove at full speed away for this damn house. He abandoned the Nadders to Night Fury without a shred of hesitation. He was already ready to leave from the moment the first Nadder crashed into his car. After all, now that the Nadders were neutralized, what could he hope to accomplish?

Hiccup expressionlessly looked at the fleeing car but made no move to stop Dean.

"Shouldn't you stop him?" asked Astrid.

She was walking towards him as she exited the house.

When she moved, she observed the Nadders who were unconscious on the floor in a broken circle around Night Fury. Honestly she was surprised that she was still alive after Dean gave the order to kill her. However, by some miracle, it seemed that Night Fury somehow managed to neutralize all of them in the time it took her to blink. It was a surprisingly fast resolution after such a long battle. As she watched the unconscious body of the Nadders, she tried to guess what happened exactly in the time it took her to blink.

She didn't know how Night Fury did it but whatever it was it apparently took quite a toll on him. While the last member of Helheim's Gate was fleeing, Night Fury just stared blankly at her and said nothing as he was still breathing heavily.

For a long moment nothing was said before he slowly stood up. She expected him to run after Dean now that he finished taking his breath back but he instead told her in an even voice:

"It's no use going after him. We'll probably see him again."

Then he intensely stared at her and told her in a very serious voice.

"Please make sure to tie all of them tightly. I'll let you handle the rest."

Not wanting for her to answer, he disappeared and left behind some residue of Speed Force.

* * *

Hiccup was in a hurry. The fight with Helheim's Gate took him more time than he thought it would and he still had to catch up to Gustav and Eric Walkers. He must stop him from giving that picture to the BCPD.

Luckily, Gustav and Eric didn't get too far away and he knew where they were going. He caught up to them when they were less than two hundreds yards from Haddock's Plaza.

Not taking the time to stop and explain, he swept between them and took Eric Walkers away from Gustav without slowing down a notch. He then turned off Thunderdrum, cutting off the voice of Gustav cursing after him, and slowed down to a speed that wouldn't make let out too much lightning behind.

As he used less Speed Force, he quickly got tired from carrying Eric Walkers but it didn't matter, he didn't need to go far. As silently and discreetly as possible, he took Eric Walkers into a small deserted alley between two houses.

"Wha- What the- Night Fury?!"

Hiccup said nothing and looked around to be sure no one saw them.

"Night Fury! Thank you for saving me earlier! Who were they? Did you beat them? I don't know who they are, I swear! They suddenly appeared a couple of days ago and chased after me ever since. I don't even know what they want with me! You've got to believe me, I-"

Hiccup abruptly cut him. He didn't have time for that.

"Don't worry they shouldn't bother you anymore. Everything is okay now. I just need one small thing from you."

Eric immediately agreed.

"Sure, Night Fury. What do you need?"

Surprisingly Eric immediately agreed without asking any more question. It was easier than he thought it would be.

"I want the photo you took of me in the harbor."

However, contrary to Hiccup's expectation, Eric showed an embarrassed expression and was squirming uncomfortably. Immediately Hiccup tensed up as he sensed it wasn't that easy after all.

"What is it?"

"I swear I didn't know, Night Fury. Otherwise I would have obviously refused. I really didn't expect-"

Hiccup had a bad feeling but he kept his cool as he once again cut him off and repeated his question.

"What is it?"

"I took that picture on my phone and didn't thought more of it afterwards. But I was asked before, I didn't thought about it and I- I just …"

He was hesitant to finish his sentence but Hiccup patiently waited for him to finish. Sensing that Night Fury was waiting for him to finish his sentence, he took a deep breath before talking.

"I already gave my phone to that detective woman earlier when she asked me for it in that house where you saved me."

Hiccup felt like a thousand bricks have just hit him.

* * *

**End of the chapter**

**I hope it wasn't too confusing but this chapter had a lot of stuff and didn't want to divide it in two. If you didn't understand some part, tell me so that I try to rewrite it more clearly! ^^**

**To answer my fan called TheNightFury: of course I'll notice such an enthusiast reader as you. I'm not dead but just also like you reading a lot of stuff and I think it help me for this chapter. I don't know when the next one will be but I'll try my best ^^**

**And thank you all for your kind reviews!**


	25. Chapter 25 - Aftermath (1)

**Hiccup in a Flash, chap 25**

**First of all I would like to apologize to everybody. I know it's been a long time as I'll explain more at the end of the chapter and I know some even I might have give up on this story. So I wanted first that I didn't give up on it and my New Year's resolution for this year is to write more. I might not publishing as often as I would like to try to be more regular at least.**

**I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or its characters, just merely borrowing the character for an adventure of my own.**

**Please enjoy yourself with this fanfic ^^**

**\- Chapter 25: Aftermath (1)**

* * *

Astrid was standing in the middle of the front yard of the 2242 Edison Street. The area was completely locked down by the BCPD and a 200 yards perimeter had been drawn around the house to cover the massive area of damage of the fight between Night Fury and Helheim's Gate. Officers were taking pictures and bagging the massive amount of empty bullet case covering the ground in its entirety. It was hard to believe that it was all bullets shot one by one by just four people in the short time the fight took. Judging by sheer number of bullet cases, Astrid would have thought a machine gun was used if she hadn't personally saw it happened with her own eyes.

The damage around her was massive, the walls of the surrounding houses and cars were riddled with bullets holes. It was particularly true of the neighbors' house across the street. It was a miracle that no one else was hurt. When she imagined the casualty a similar fight would have done in the downtown area Astrid couldn't suppress the shiver running down her spine. Those men from Helheim's Gate were just terrifying. Far surpassing what she thought was possible.

_Helheim's Gate started to use the Speed force. Luckily they shouldn't be able to make more of those guys. They shouldn't have that much of Speed Force left right?_

She tried to reassure herself but her guts were telling her that it was far from over. It was just the real kickoff of the game opposing them to Helheim's Gate.

However, apart from making some guesses, she had no way to know what was really going on. The only thing she could do for now was focus on the more immediate problem.

She opened her phone and once again took a look at the picture that Eric Walkers gave her before Gustav took him away by the back of the house.

_What is it supposed to mean?_

Suddenly the voice of Gustav erupted to her left, interrupting her contemplation.

"Astrid! I brought Eric Walkers with me. You said you wanted to ask him some question?"

"Yes. Sorry to make you come back here. You know with what happened." She couldn't help but glance a look at the body bags containing those dead officers who accompanied Gustav earlier. "But I can't leave here yet. There is still too much for me to do. Where is he?"

"At the back of my car over there."

"Thanks."

She processed towards the car Gustav pointed out and saw from afar Eric Walkers who barely dared to take a look at the destruction around the house.

She opened the door and didn't embarrass herself with formalities as she just started to ask questions.

"What exactly happened to you? Why were they pursuing you? Why were you hiding?"

"I-I don't know. Really. I don't even know who they are! I swear! You've got to believe me! They just suddenly showed up and-and…"

"Calm down. Take a deep breath and start from the beginning. That picture you gave me, where did you get it."

He needed to take two long deep breaths before he was calm enough to start explaining.

"I took it a few days ago, the day that warehouse at pier 7 burned down. I was just going to work as usual with Andrew and-"

"Andrew Patterton?"

"Yes, a co-worker and friend of mine. We often go to work at similar times and tend to meet each other in the bus. We regularly worked on the same part on the docks so we would often walk there together. Do you know him?"

"Yes but it doesn't matter for the moment. Continue your story please."

"Yes. So I was going to work with Andrew to pier 5 when we noticed someone was lying down in the passage. At first we thought that it was another homeless guy who tried to find a quiet place to sleep but as soon as we approached we didn't believed our eyes as we saw that it was Night Fury. THE Night Fury was lying on the ground right before us. And he didn't look too good. But when we approached he began to move and he stood up right in front of us. At first we didn't say anything, we just couldn't believe our eyes because it was him you know? Night Fury in person! After a while Night Fury asked us where he was so we told him that he was at pier 5 between warehouse 56D and 57D. After that he thanked us and disappeared."

"And the picture?"

"Oh! Yes, the picture. When we approached him I took out my phone to call for help if he needed some. But when he stood up and we saw he looked quite okay, I couldn't resist and took a picture of him. That the one I gave you. It's pretty cool right?"

"Yes, yes." impatiently answered Astrid.

"Now tell me about those men from before. You said they suddenly showed up. Is that why you were hiding?"

"Y-Yeah! One night, I was home minding my own business when someone knocked on the door claiming to be a detective of the BCPD. When I opened a man dressed in a suit with a suit showed me a badge of the BCPD and entered without asking into my house with two officers. They were really suspicious as the detective had half of his face hidden behind a scarf and a hat while the officers were very big and intimidating with vacant looks in their eyes. They really gave me the creeps. They started to interrogate me, wanting to know if I ever had contact with Night Fury so I told them about that time in the docks but then suddenly the guy in a suit ordered the two officers to seize me without explanation. When I wanted to move out of their grip the strangest thing happened. I tried to move my shoulder but I just couldn't move it. It wasn't that their grip were too strong or anything like that. It was as if I couldn't put any strength at all into it. Like I was paralyzed. It scared the hell out of me!"

"But you managed to escape right?"

"Yes. I still don't really understand how I managed to do it. The guy in the suit went to my bedroom to inspect it when he call them over. Rather that just one of them going there or bringing me with them, they just left. They immediately let me go and ignored me completely. Not believing my luck, I used that opportunity to grab my coat and run. After that I tried to find a place to hide and you know the rest."

"And they didn't stop you when you run away?"

"No, that was the strangest thing. The look on their face was completely vacant and not responsive. They only listen to orders. When the guy in the suit called them it's like they totally forgot I existed."

"Those men, are they among those people?"

Astrid showed the picture of the Nadders that Hiccup defeated. The way he described their empty expression and the lack of personal initiative strongly reminded her of them. They likely to be people who went through the same procedure from Helheim's Gate.

"No, they looked different. They were taller and way bigger."

"Okay, thanks. I still have a few questions. Why didn't you go to the police? We could have helped you. Clearly you could have guess that those guys weren't from the BCPD."

"They didn't really looked like cops but if they really were… I'm not sure I could have escaped them a second time. I couldn't risk it, you have to understand me."

"I do." reassured Astrid. "You risk nothing now. I can definitely tell you that those men weren't from the BCPD, you are safe now. Is there anything else you can tell me? What happened after you escaped from your apartment?"

"After I escaped, I walked randomly in the streets, trying to put the most distance possible from those men. A while after I escaped, I passed in front of this house with a "For sale" sign so I removed it and hid myself inside. I tried to get out as little as possible, only going outside to buy necessities."

"What did you plan to do?"

"I don't really know. I thought about hiding for a few days before leaving town for my parents' house in Florida, finding some work there and maybe coming back for my stuff after a month. I haven't really decided yet."

"Can you tell me more about those men who tried to take you? A detail, something that you found strange, anything?"

"I really don't know what to tell you. The only thing that I can tell you was that the two guys accompanying the guy in the suit were really huge and looked really weird. I still don't know what they did to make me that powerless with just a touch. That's really the only thing that struck me at the time. It seemed like some kind of magic."

He tried to think hard at anything he could tell her about those two but he couldn't find anything else to say. But if she asked for stuff he found weird there was one more thing.

"Maybe…"

"Yes?"

"It's nothing really, not worth mentioning."

"Try me either way."

She was really eager for any detail that could help her.

"There was one more thing that I found strange before those huge men seized me. I wouldn't normally remember stuff like that but as he was the only one who talked so it stood out a lot. The guy with the suit who commanded the other guys he talked funny, like really funny. It's not that he has a weird accent or anything but it's just that… I can't really put it into word but the way he talked was weird, polite but in a weird way. I'm not sure I quite made myself clear, I told you it wasn't really something worth mentioning."

"No, it is not. You really helped us. Don't worry, we'll find those guys. Someone will take you to the Police Plaza to take your deposition and we'll take you to a sketch artist so that you can described him more precisely what those men looked like. Afterwards I'll meet with you again so that we can figure out together how you're gonna live before we catch those guys. Everything is gonna be fine, I'll leave you with Officer Larson who will take care of you."

"Thanks detective. I appreciate it."

"Gustav, take care of him. Take him the Police Plaza for his deposition. We'll also need your deposition about what happened. After that you must go see Captain Sven so that he can conduct your psychiatric evaluation."

"B-But…"

"No but! You went through much today, there is no negotiation possible. Go now."

Gustav reluctantly nodded before climbing in the car and slowly driving away, leaving Astrid alone behind.

It was at that point that she received a call from Captain Sven. Apparently Stoick wanted to see her immediately.

After she looked around one last time at the devastation that she miraculously escaped from, she walked back to her car.

She expected that some noisy news reporters ambushed her at her car but she didn't expected to see Johann the Trader.

"Trader Johann?!"

"Lady Astrid! What a pleasant surprise!"

Astrid coldly snorted at the fake expression of surprise on Johann's face.

"You want me to believe that you ambushing me at my car is a coincidence?"

"Sharp and direct as always Lady Astrid. Your guess was most correct. I was waiting for you as I had some news but I was evidently too late."

Astrid frowned.

"What news? Why is it too late?"

"I went to find you to inform you that I found the whereabouts of the man you asked me to find: Eric Walkers. Earlier this afternoon I heard by some acquaintances of mine that he was seen entering this specific house. When I went to check if it was true but the house and the bloc around was already completed locked down by the BCPD. That's when I noticed your car and waited for you there. I assumed that you already found that Eric Walkers fella."

"Your guess is right as always. We found him and we are now getting his testimony to find out who exactly is pursuing him."

"But I suppose that someone as brilliant as you already has an idea of who it was."

"The guess wasn't hard. It was Helheim's Gate. We arrest several of them trying to capture him and some are even dead."

"Ohh! Most impressive Lady Astrid! I assumed that you must be the one to congratulate for such a heroic feat!"

Astrid took a darker shade as her voice became emotionless.

"No it wasn't me."

Seeing Astrid's strange reaction, Trader Johann judged it more cautious to not dig deeper.

"And if it isn't indiscreet, what did Helheim's Gate wanted from that man, Eric Walkers? From my investigation, he is pretty unremarkable."

"They wanted the photo he took of Night Fury. They didn't get it but it wouldn't have help them even if they did."

"Oh?" Johann was honestly intrigued. "Why do you say that?"

"No offense Johann but that doesn't concern you. Anyway I'm the one with his phone now so Helheim's Gate can only dream on if they think of stealing it again."

Johann showed a slight smile, not minding Astrid's rebuttal of his request as if he had expected it.

"As expected of Lady Astrid. Fearless as always I see. Well, it seemed that my duty here is finished. I better go back at the other requests you asked of me."

"Ah! Johann!"

"Yes?"

"About what I asked you before, the list of geniuses."

"The list of experts and geniuses in engineering, technology and computer science living in Berk? Yes, what about it? I'm still compiling the list. Do you want a peak?"

"No it's not that. It's just that- I-"

It was rare to see Astrid shuttered like that. But it was an important decision for her. Finally she resolutely told:

"I won't need it anymore. You don't have to do it. Instead I want more information, any information about Helheim's Gate."

"Are you sure? I'm almost finished."

"I'm sure. I just need information on Helheim's Gate."

"Alright, as you wish Lady Astrid. I'll contact you as soon as I find something."

On those words Trader Johann turned away and disappeared in the falling night. Astrid also parted her way with a resolute expression.

* * *

Nearly an hour and half later, Hiccup was breathing heavily in the showers of the Police Plaza, still in his Night Fury suit. To be precise, he was in the changing room next to the showers connected to the dojo of the BCPD. With a sigh of relief, Hiccup took off his helmet. He quite appreciated the fresh air after spending the whole day suffocating in his helmet.

It really has been a shitty day. He was forced to play in Helheim's Gate's game all day, running all around Berk, having a massive face-off with super criminals juiced with Speed Force to try and protecting his secret only for his picture to finally end up in Astrid's hands. It really was hard to see any silver lining at all.

Luckily the attack on Berk stopped an hour after his fight with Helheim's Gate and he had relatively little to do or he would be in worse shape than that after such wounds. Cautiously he took off his shoulder pad and the upper part of his armor to take a look at the state of his wound. Luckily his shoulder was healing quite nicely. At least on the outside you couldn't really noticed it, it was cleanly closed with a light pink scar the only proof left he had been shot less than two hours ago. It healed faster than he thought it would but it was only the exterior aspect of it. Inside he could feel that the bone was still piecing itself together and the muscles around were painfully sore. He'll need a few more days before being completely healed.

Still if some doctors were there they would be more than stupefied by how fast he healed. The idea that one could heal by himself in a few days a shattered bone shoulder was a complete heresy for the current medical knowledge. They would be green from envy of the Speed Force in Hiccup's body if they knew about it. There was no telling was their reaction would be if they were told that his healing ability was just a side effects of the Speed Force.

But Hiccup didn't preoccupy himself with that being only happy that there wouldn't be any scar left. He would have quite the difficulty to explain to his father or Astrid if they saw scars from bullet wounds.

Letting out a sigh of relief he heavily sat down on the bench.

_What a day. But now what?_

There was so much to consider so much that was going on. Astrid, the photo, the attack on Berk, those guys with the Speed Force…

Just listing all of it was enough to give Hiccup a headache.

_Astrid saw the photo… Does she know? Then why didn't she try to find and murder me? She didn't try to contact me ever since we saved Eric Walkers. Did she even see that photo?_

Endless questions were swirling in his mind needlessly as he just couldn't find any answers without seeing Astrid first. But even he knew it, he couldn't help but worry about it. After all she was Astrid and if she ever realized that he was Night Fury… The consequences would just be too dreadful, especially considering what she told him when she confided to him. Her pride wouldn't allow her to let him go.

Sensing he was just getting nowhere and scaring himself needlessly, he changed his way of thought and went back to the events of the day: the attack on Berk and the capture squad that attacked Eric Walkers.

At first he thought that Helheim's Gate ordered those attacks on Berk because they needed equipment and money to exploit the Speed Force but those men who went to capture Eric Walkers were undoubtedly using the Speed Force.

Didn't that mean that Helheim's Gate already exploited the Speed Force? Then why the attack then?

Why take such a risk for not that much reward? A lot of criminals under Helheim's Gate orders were arrested by the BCPD today, won't it reduce their overall strength by doing so? If they took the risk of such a large operation and it wasn't for money or equipment then why did they do it?

_What's their end goal? What did they earn today?_

That question worried Hiccup greatly. Because if he was wrong about what Helheim's Gate wanted to do it could very well mean that his countermeasure against Helheim's Gate had been useless. He had run all around Berk carrying the others for nothing. Worse, it may have actually helped them.

Not knowing what Helheim's Gate was plotting was eating him alive. No matter what he did or how clever his plans were, it seemed like Helheim's Gate was always one step ahead and he only managed to see a part of the playing board by sheer luck. If that noisy lady neighbor didn't report the presence of Eric Walkers, he would have fall into Helheim's Gate hands and he wouldn't even know that they already exploited the Speed Force.

But before he could continue to torment himself with his thoughts, he heard the door opening behind him. Dread filled him as he was still sitting in the middle of the changing room half dressed in his Night Fury uniform.

Before the door could completely open on itself, he mustered all his speed to change and take out the rest of uniform at top speed. Stark naked he hurriedly threw his uniform in his locker before grabbing a towel.

At the same time he turned around, fearing that the person saw him changing or residues of Speed Force when he used his power. He couldn't really control whether or not he was emitting those sparks. With a poker face he tried to face the person entering as if nothing abnormal happened and he didn't undress in less than 0.2 seconds. However, no matter how much of a calm face he tried to muster, he could hide his shock when he saw who entered. Astrid was looking at him with a weird expression on her face.

* * *

In a dark place that few know about, hidden somewhere in Berk, Dean Sullivan, also known as Supervisor Dean, was trembling in his boots. He was nervous but mostly he felt incredibly scared as he was waiting in front of a massive door. And he had his reasons. The attack on Berk ended moments ago and he was about to submit his report to Red Death, the boss of Helheim's Gate and now the uncontested leader of all criminals in Berk.

Dean had many reasons to be scared. Not only did he failed to bring back Eric Walkers with him but he also lost the Nadders who accompanied him. The Nadders were the secret weapons of Helheim's Gate against Night Fury and were far more valuable in the eyes of the boss than his scrawny little life. The boss wasn't known to be kind, especially towards those who failed him. He didn't get his name for nothing.

Actually it wasn't the name by which the boss called himself, Red Death was the shorter version by which the member privately called him. His full name sounded strange but he insisted on being called that way. At first Dean was really confused why he insisted to have such a weird name but when he once saw the boss personally killed someone in front of him, his name made perfect sense.

Dean didn't started as a supervisor in Helheim's Gate hierarchy. He started as a no name subaltern and ended up as a supervisor when his previous supervisor made the mistake of calling the boss by the shorter version of his name. He then got brutally murdered by Red Death in front of his men. Red Death then randomly picked Dean to replace him. It was a scene he would never forgot in his whole life and even today he made regular nightmares about it.

Just thinking about the screams and the blood that flew everywhere made his back drenched with cold sweat. How that poor bastard screamed for forgiveness before having his tongue torn off, how he tried to run to discover his legs were missing, how then a huge shadow pick him from the ground with one hand and...

"Brrrr..."

Dean didn't want to think about it as he shuddered. He anxiously wanted for his name to be called. He didn't want to believe that he would share the same fate as his previous supervisor. Even if the kidnapping of Eric Walkers ended in such a failure it wasn't as if he had nothing to save himself. He was the one who informed Helheim's Gate of the whereabouts of Eric Walkers and he only followed the order of Drago. It wasn't his fault if he didn't get Eric Walkers; it was Night Fury's fault. If even four Nadders couldn't have stopped him how could he, a mere normal human, possibly succeed to stop him? Moreover the one who allowed Eric Walkers to escape in the first was still alive so he should be okay. Right?

Even if the situation was bad for him all wasn't lost. If he played his cards right he might able to escape a gruesome death. And if he managed to shift the blame on Draco he might have a shot at being promoted.

**_"Dean Sullivan. Enter."_**

Just as he was cheering himself up, he heard his name being called by an ethereal voice that didn't seemed to be from this world. It carried a depth and power of intimidation that sounded more from a beast than a human.

After taking a long breath and gathering the most courage he could, Dean opened the heavy door where was waiting the boss. His fate would be decided in the next minutes and whether it would be heaven or hell would be according to his performance.

Once he passed the door, he quickly walked forward and once he was half into the room he threw himself on his knees he spoke with his most sincere tone.

"O Great Red of the Dismembering Death! Your loyal subordinate has come as per your call."

His most solemn greetings was met with a deafening silence as he kept looking on the floor, not daring raising his head without permission.

After a long moment of anxious silence, Draco emerged from the shadow covering of the other half of the hall.

"Dean. Make your report to his Highness."

Another weird thing about the boss is that he insisted to be called Highness instead of Boss when we don't say his full name. As for why no one knew. The boss was extremely secretive and none really knew his origin or his background except maybe Draco. Most, including Dean, never saw his face. Even when the boss dismembered his previous Supervisor he didn't saw his face nor what he looked like. The only thing he could tell was that he had a massive physique and that his ethereal voice of his was out of this world for it was way too scary and always loud and heavy no matter how far he was speaking from you.

"Yes sir, of course sir. Your Highness, earlier today a small time pickpocket named George Dunlap came to see me to tell me he had some information about one of the men we were looking for: Eric Walkers. He had accidently stole his wallet and when he realized who he was he discreetly followed him to his hiding place and reported it to me. As soon as I learned of it, I immediately called Drago to report that information. Afterwards, following to the letter his instructions, I took four Nadders and headed to the hideout of Eric Walkers to capture him."

Dean threw a quick upward look to see the reaction of his story. He had to carefully phrase it so that the blame will eventually fall upon Drago without him openly accusing him. If he just explicitly followed Drago's instructions to the letter and it still failed then it would be logical that it was Drago's plan that failed not him.

From what he saw Drago was coldly staring at him without saying anything and the boss was still hidden in the shadow. However even if he couldn't see the boss he noticed that a pair of red glowing eyes was looking at him. Those eyes the color of the blood sent a shiver down his spine as he quickly lowered his eyes, not daring to look straight at them.

_The boss just can't be human!_

The moment his eyes met with those of the boss he felt as if his soul and his everything was completely naked and helpless in front of that glare. Breaking in cold sweat, he didn't dare to think too long about it and hurriedly continued his story. At least he knew that the boss was listening attentively at his story. As terrifying as the boss's gaze was he had the chance to explain himself and if he did well he might survive or even get promoted.

"When I arrived at the house where Eric Walkers was hiding, I saw that some cops were already there and were questioning him. I decided to prioritize the capture of Eric Walkers and ordered the Nadders to kill them. They effectively disposed of them but missed one who already was in the house and barricaded himself in the house with Eric Walkers. I ordered the Nadders to move inside the house to capture him but as we were about to enter Night Fury suddenly arrived on the scene and from that point everything went wrong."

Then Dean began to tell the epic tales of the battle between him and Night Fury where the Nadders managed to wound him and repel him several times but in the end it wasn't enough. The Nadders suddenly got attacked by surprise from another side by a blonde female cop and Night Fury viciously and cowardly used that opportunity to draw closer of the Nadders and apprehended them. Seeing the Nadders being defeated, against his dearest wishes, he, Dean, had to reluctantly flee in his car and could only blamed his own powerlessness that he couldn't defeat Night Fury with his own hands. So he could only risk everything to go back and report all what happen.

It was a moving tale where Dean, as a hero, tried to heroically lead the Nadders to battle only to lose in an incident beyond his control and ended up having to flee against his will to comply his duty of reporting what happened.

At the end of his report, he once again raised his head to observe the boss. Like last time Drago was still standing still with a blank look but Dean could perceive a twitch of annoyance in his eyes as he evidently guessed what Dean was trying to do with his tale. Drago evidently knew what kind of character Dean had. But Dean didn't care if he annoyed Drago, what mattered was that the boss believed he did everything he could only to eventually failed but that it couldn't be blamed on him.

He timidly threw a look at the boss. The glowing eyes were no longer looking at him but instead seemed to be contemplating something.

An intense glint of hope began to shine in Dean's eyes. Apparently something he said made the boss lost in thought and now he was pondering something apparently important. In that case there was a huge chance that if he simply didn't bother him he could be allowed to leave without anymore trouble. It wasn't the best-case scenario that Dean hoped for but if he managed to keep his life after such a failure it would already be a massive success.

After a long minute of silence where the boss was completely lost in thoughts, Dean finally gathered his courage to ask.

"O Great Red of the Dismembering Death, allow this lowly self to depart so that he do not disturb your thoughts any longer."

That way of speaking was very flowery and unnatural in today's world but most member of Helheim's Gate who met the boss noticed that the boss like to be talked to with reverence and be considered as a king ruling over all of them.

The eyes of the boss lazily fell upon Dean again when he asked to leave. At first the look in the eyes were blank, devoid of emotion when it suddenly illuminated in a ferocious joy as a bad feeling erupted from Dean's heart. The chilling voice of the boss once again resounded.

**_"Before you leave, is there anything you'll want to say? Did you tell me everything?"_**

"Yes Your Highness! I told you everything. I did everything I could but in the end I was able to do anything in front of Night Fury."

_**"If you amount to nothing in front of Night Fury, what use are you to me?"**_

Just when he finished saying it, the glowing eyes disappeared in front of Dean's eyes and he vaguely sensed a flash of red light passing to his right.

_**"Not only have you failed your mission and lost four precious Nadders but you also told me repeatedly that in front of Night Fury you're useless. Tell me what use can I have of you?"**_

The voice this time came from his back.

"Y-Your Highness, I-I can still-"

While Dean was trembling and desperately try to find a way to convince the boss that he was still of use, he suddenly sensed a numbness in his right hand. From the corner of the eye he looked at his hand before completely freezing, staring dumbly.

"AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!"

The pain hit him as he screamed in agony, both from shock and pain. His right hand had been torn off completely. Hanging from his wrist was only fragments of flesh with blood flowing non-stop. Dean couldn't think anymore as he kept on screaming. Even if his mind could work properly in this situation he wouldn't be able to comprehend how it happened or where did his hand disappeared. The only thing he could felt was pain and a profound terror.

_**"Useless thing that only know how to scream. Worse, you're tasteless. Not even capable to be useful in death."**_

Berated the cold voice of the boss Dean strangely heard it perfectly above his screams. He suddenly remembered how the previous supervisor died before his eyes.

With frantic terror he turned to face the boss to beg for his life when he noticed on the corner of the eye another flash of red light on his left side this time. He was too frightened to look but at the same he couldn't stop himself from looking. Dean looked at his left hand. Sure enough it was in the same state as his right one: a complete mesh of flesh hanging miserably from his wrist. Once again he didn't saw a thing.

Dean let out another heart wrenching scream as he stared as his two missing hands. But this time he didn't kept screaming for long as he tried once more to beg for his life.

"B-Boss, p-please! H-Have mercy! I-I can still be of use and-"

_**"What did you call me?!"**_

Realizing his error he didn't even tried to stay and to correct himself. Instead he made a desperate attempt to run for the door. He didn't made three steps before he felt on the floor. Looking at his feet he saw that he was missing his left foot.

_**"You think I'm just the mere boss of some pathetic criminals?!"**_

Ignoring the massive pain rushing his legs he tried to stand up despite his missing foot. But he was stopped by a loud crack as he once again felt on the floor. Looking again at his legs he saw with terror that he still had his right leg but it was broken off in the middle, making an impossible angle. But at least it wasn't ripped off like his left foot.

_**"You believe that I create Helheim's Gate from scratch just for it to be a common criminal organization?"**_

At this point, he could still perfectly hear every word the boss was saying but he just wasn't in any state to actually comprehend what he was saying. The only thing left in his mind was to get out of here at any cost. Numbed by pain, he gave up getting up and began to crawl desperately towards the door.

_**"I once was the king of all the lands I could see. The uncontested sovereign that none dared to even think of disobeying. But I still wasn't satisfied as I knew I could do better, as I knew I was destined to do bigger. 23 years ago an opportunity for me to leave my land and expand my horizon arrived and I decided to take it. Do you think I took it for the purpose of being a "boss"? I'm a king binding for his time, waiting for fate to send its sign. And fate did. I built Helheim's Gate for that sole purpose, for my to comply my fate and be the king of all and you dare to confined me to a "boss"? A mere criminal motivated by greed? I'm a chosen of fate! Do you now understood how much you insulted me? How much you insulted destiny itself? How can you repay such an insult apart with your miserable life?"**_

"P-Please, I didn't meant t-to- Your Highness please have mercy! I-I-"

_**"Your miserable life isn't enough to repay such an insult. I, the Great Red of the Dismembering Death, am already being merciful by accepting that pathetic life of yours as compensation. Of course you can't die easily for it to be a barely passable price."**_

"I-I-"

But before he could say another word he saw a red light passing by him. Trembling he stared incredulously at his arm as his entire forearm was already completely ripped off. Once again he didn't saw anything it just disappeared. Another wave of pain hit him.

However he didn't have time to scream in pain when another streak of red light passed by him. This time it was his other forearm that disappeared, leaving behind only a huge bite mark.

Not waiting for another streak of red light to pass by him he frantically crawl towards the door not minding the unimaginable amount of pain cursing his every nerve.

Sadly such a determination and will to live was useless as it only gave a sadistic smile to the boss who took pleasure in torturing him even more. Red lights continuously ran next to the crawling figure of Dean and every time it did, one more part of his limbs went missing, brutally ripped off of him.

At first it slowly took away the toes of his only remaining foot. Then it was the turn of his foot. Afterwards everything up to the knee disappeared, then the thighs and what was left of the arms. Then the torture began even more vicious as smaller parts disappeared: his ears, his nose, his lips, parts of the hips... Everything was done in a particularly deranged and sadistic way. The rhythm with which everything disappeared was done in an increasingly faster fashion so that he wouldn't bleed to death before everything was done.

Soon a barely recognizable torso of a man in a pool of blood and intestines was left. Dean was wriggling around as he still tried to crawl towards the door. His mind was long gone, flooded in pain and terror. His previous mechanical urge to leave the room was the only keeping him moving. Then, in a final streak of red light, Dean's head was sent flying, his expression forever frozen in unspeakable terror.

Afterwards for a long moment passed where no one said a thing in the room, not even daring breathing. The only sound left being the gurgling of the flooding blood still escaping from what was left of Dean. Finally Red Death broke the silence.

_**"Clean that sorry excuse of a man."**_

The members of Helheim's Gate kept around for attending Red Death hidden in the corners of the room urgently obeyed and rushed to clean the horrifying lefts of that gruesome and terrifying spectacle. Even if none of them wanted to get anywhere near that bloody mess, they didn't dare to be too slow to obey.

_**"Drago. How went the operation?"**_

Drago blinked once before calmly answering to the boss as if nothing happened.

"The results are actually quite good despite the failure of the plan in most part."

_**"What do you mean?"**_

"A lot of the incidents we planned for Night Fury failed and he didn't show up. He must have guessed that something was up when we tested him before and he took his precautious today. He most likely had a plan to avoid our ambush. Barely a third of them were successful."

The boss stayed silent for a moment as he meditated on that news. He then asked in a cold tone.

_**"But you said that the results were quite good. Didn't most of the ambush failed?"**_

"Yes. Even if most failed they yield a lot more result than what we expected. We managed to get three to four times the quantity we expected."

_**"Oh?"**_

"Yes. See for yourself."

Drago signed one of the attendants who hurriedly left before coming back with several trays pushed by a dozen members of Helheim's Gate. If Hiccup were there to see this he would immediately recognized what was on those trays. There were filled with glowing tubes of a strange liquid emitting sparks while glowing in a familiar purple light.

Even if it was diluted and there wasn't much in each tube, Helheim's Gate's quantity of Speed Force wasn't something one could take lightly.

The glowing eyes looked at the arriving tube with a devouring envy. How long have he waited for that day?

A terrifying smile appeared under the glowing eyes of Red Death.

_**"Good. Very good."**_

* * *

**End of the chapter**

**First Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everybody! ^^**

**I wanted to publish it for Christmas then for New Year's Eve but I always underestimate how crazy winter vacations always are with all those celebration and gift buying. Moreover my birthday also occured during that same period -_-'**

**I'm sorry for the long wait and I would like to thanks those who left such enthusiast reviews waiting patientely for the next chapter. For those I could answer I try to explain and for the others I like to explain to you: if that chapter took so long to publish it was because I found a hard time to motivate myself to write as I was completely absorbed into reading A LOT of stuff. I just couldn't stop reading.**

**Next was also that this chapter was a bit trickier to write than the others as I had some trouble deciding the repartition of scenes between this chapter and the next. I came back on it several times to build up the effect I wanted. It would be clearer when you read the next chapter.**

**All in all I would like to thank you one last time for your patience! It really meant a lot to me.**

**I hope you'll hear from soon, I put myself for goal to write the next for in 3 weeks top. I hope I'll manage this deadline ^^**

**Happy New Year 2017!**


	26. Chapter 26 - Aftermath (2)

**Hiccup in a Flash, chap 26**

**I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or its characters, just merely borrowing the character for an adventure of my own. I might as well add that I don't own The Flash either in case that wasn't obvious ^^  
**

**Please enjoy yourself with this fanfic ^^**

**\- Chapter 26: Aftermath (2)**

* * *

Hiccup's situation was awkward to say the least. After Helheim's Gate finished its attack on Berk he received a phone call from Astrid saying that she wanted to speak to him and it sounded quite urgent. As he was supposed to have spent the day at the BCPD he hurried there and went to the showers of the dojo to change and grab a quick shower before meeting with Astrid in his lab. However once he got there he began to think over the event of the day while checking his newest wounds facing Helheim's Gate. Rapidly his thoughts turned sour as he began to realize that he may have underestimated Helheim's Gate today. The Nadders he faced what the perfect embodiment of how much he underestimated them. He might have brood over his thoughts for a long time if it wasn't for someone suddenly entering the locker room while he was still in half of his Night Fury's uniform. He hurriedly took it off and grabbed a towel before turning over and being face to face with the person he least wanted to find him in such a situation: Astrid.

He began to think at a thousand miles per hour as both he and Astrid completely froze.

_What to do now? Why is she here? Did she saw anything? Why don't she anything? Why is she looking at me like that? Does she know?_

A myriad of questions filled his mind while he was completely losing his composure. He just couldn't read Astrid's thoughts as she was blankly looking at him. But what he didn't know what that she too had a hard time keeping her composure. A tinge of red went to her cheek, as she couldn't help her eyes to move down.

"Y-Your towel."

It was rare to hear Astrid being flustered like that. It made Hiccup unable to process her words.

"Eh? What?"

This time with a more resolute glare Astrid repeated herself while looking straight at him. However her face was burning hot proof that it took quite an effort from her to look calm.

"Your towel. You didn't tie it."

"What?!"

Hiccup finally registered what she said. He hurriedly looked down and true enough he had nothing covering him. Earlier when he hurriedly stripped and turned over, he grabbed a towel to cover him but when he saw Astrid he completely forgot about it and stupidly stared at her while completely naked with only a towel in his frozen hand.

He quickly tied the towel around his waist but it was already too late. He could feel his face burning off at top speed to the point he was ready to bet that he could cook an egg on his face right now. Not looking at her in the eyes, he hurriedly blabbered some excuse.

"S-sorry! I-I didn't know that I... I was going to b-but you entered a-and I forgot that I..."

Astrid couldn't help but enjoy the funny sight that was Hiccup right now. Even if she was still a bit embarrassed - and her damn cheeks just won't stop burning - it was somewhat funny to see the usually composed and cool-headed Hiccup, the sometimes cheeky and sarcastic Hiccup, being completely flustered and red-faced to the point he couldn't make eye contact anymore. Seeing that side of him again, that timid and embarrassed part of him that she had began to forget that how he usually was before, seeing it again gave her a strange rush where she wanted to play with him a bit more. In a tone of amused anger, she started to toy with him.

"So you're telling me that it is my fault?"

"N-no! I-I was just about to put the towel when you entered and..."

To the dismay of the poor Hiccup, Astrid quirked her brows and asked with a wry smile.

"You stayed naked just for me then."

Astrid started to truly enjoyed herself after such a crappy day and discovered that toying with Hiccup like that gave her a refreshing feeling. It was a strange mix of experiencing something new and yet remembering some old sensations. Truly exhilarating.

"No! Absolutely not! I didn't to show myself naked to you and it wasn't your fault. Well, technically it was because of you that I was naked when you entered but only because I forgot about it. I was just surprised. I-I didn't try to purposely be naked and…"

It really was too much fun to see the completely red faced Hiccup completely losing his bearings and losing himself in a mess of explanations. With a playful smile she began to move closer to Hiccup.

"So you did stay naked because of me."

"N-no. Even if I did say that but again that's not what I meant-"

"And you took quite your sweet time before getting dressed. A bit long for an accident isn't it?"

"I- I just didn't realized that I- I was… you know…"

"Flagrantly naked?"

"Yeah that."

"Even if it was an accident as you say." She paused a moment there as she enjoyed Hiccup's face getting even redder as she approached him. "Why did you forgot you were completely naked? Don't tell me it is just because little old me entered is it? Surely I didn't cause that strong of an effect."

"Er…"

Hiccup couldn't exactly say that was because that less than a half second ago he was dressed in his Night Fury costume and feared that the strange look she gave him was because she knew he was Night Fury and was miles away to think that he actually was completely naked in front of her.

As he tried to find any excuse better that saying that he was gawking at her, he couldn't help but be distracted by Astrid standing extremely close to me. So very close to him as he could feel her heated breath on his skin, smell the incredulous odor she exalted and stare at her close-up face where her ocean blue eyes were following the trace of her finger tracing circle on his torso.

"Well? Why don't you answer?"

Her playful smile as she was toying with him with her finger did nothing to calm him. The cold sensation of her soft skin on her finger moving up and down his upper body spread a warm feeling wherever it passed, completely shutting off his thought process. He had no idea what he was supposed to do or say.

Her finger stopped on his stomach and was joined by the rest of her hands while her eyes was still examining the details of his torso. Hiccup still didn't manage to find a word to say when he suddenly shuddered as he noticed that Astrid's look stopped not far from the fading pink scars of the bullet he took this afternoon.

"A-Astrid…"

"Ruff was right. You're ripped. And your skin is so soft it makes you want to take a bite."

This time Astrid didn't spoke confidently as she did before. It was close to a whisper that escaped from her thoughts as she was still in a trance from gazing at Hiccup's naked upper body. Hiccup couldn't help but wondered if he heard it right.

"Astrid? You..."

"Mmm?" She suddenly realized what she just said. "Did I say that aloud?"

This time it was Astrid's turn to be completely red. Seeing such a cute reaction from Astrid made Hiccup's heart beat frantically. Beaming with his crooked smile he used the momentum to reverse the situation, going back to his teasing self.

"Well, I didn't know you had such strong feelings for my skin."

Astrid slapped him on the chest leaving a red mark.

"I-Idiot!"

"Ouch! Should violence always be the answer?"

"You deserved it."

Her tone was firm but the violent blush and the fact she didn't dare to look at him in the eyes drastically undermined that firmness.

"Why? Because my skin is soft? Or because I'm apparently ripped?"

Astrid slapped his chest again. Harder.

"Ouch! Ouch! Stop! No more hitting! I'm only the poor victim here."

Astrid rolled her eyes at the indignant voice of Hiccup.

"By Thor. Would a _poor victim_ flashed his junk to his aggressor?"

"Again, it was an accident. It's not like I planned it. But it appears you quite like what you saw. Now I'm afraid I'll find bite marks on my so soft skin."

How could Astrid not see that he was trying to shift the embarrassment to her? However she never was one to back from a challenge and began to reply back in spite of her ears definitely going red.

"Freya help me! That idiot, you give him one small compliment and he thinks he's irresistible! Just because your skin is a bit soft that doesn't mean that-"

"And I am ripped. Don't forget that part."

"And _Ruffnut thinks you might have a bit of muscle_," corrected Astrid, "It doesn't mean anything. Besides it doesn't offset the fact that you are an exhibitionist."

"I think you're kind of jumping to conclusion here about the exhibitionist thing. And 'Ruffnut thinks you might have a bit of muscle'? I seem to remember just moments ago you agreeing to Ruffnut."

This time Astrid pinched him.

"Oouch! Violence? Again?"

"Because you kept being stupid and pretentious. What? You think you're Baldr?"

"Who?"

"Baldr, the Norse god of beauty, innocence, peace, and rebirth. Second son of Odin. You never heard of him?"

"My father never was shy of swearing so I never had to learn the complete pantheon of the Norse Gods just so that I could say some swear words."

"Go ahead. Mock away. You'll have a tough time finding something I never heard before."

Even if Astrid kept her defiant face on, her smile lost of her brightness. Even if she didn't want to admit it, the mockery she received for her habit to swear with the Norse Gods in primary school all the way till college left its mark on her. That's why she tried so hard to correct herself when she swore now.

"Why would I? It's fresh and quite an original way to express oneself. And if I have to be honest I find quite endearing."

"Really?" asked Astrid. Even if she doubted it a bit she could tell that he didn't plan to say that last part. Keeping her playful she asked. "Endearing you say?"

"W-well you know… it rings strangely into your ear. It makes you pause to wonder how you even came up with that and then you might start to wonder what other weird think might be popping into your mind that sounds so strangely pleasant to the ears. And then a young boy of - let's say thirteen - starts to ponder what it might be like to spend his time with a girl with such an amusing mind and gorgeous smile."

"And I suppose that this boy is purely hypothetical?"

"Of course. Absolutely. Definitely not the young version of me in middle school the first time he met you and heard you insulting your stucked locker of a _'Half son of a goblin eater troll dump'_. It is a totally different guy who is purely fictional."

"I can't help but find that description oddly specific."

"Well I do have a good imagination."

Astrid let out a small laugh. There really wasn't two like him. This weird mix of humor, self-derision and honesty was so disrupting, so strange, so … Hiccup. A rare honest laugh escaped Astrid's lips as a bundle of warmth spread into her.

The subject of her weird swearing habit was something that had impacted her more than she cared to admit. When they first heard her swear, most people looked at her strangely, thinking she is a completely weirdo like Tuffnut did. That's why he started to speak to her in the first place. Some openly laugh at her before being punched in the face like Snotlout. Some rare people found it weird but kept it to themselves and accepted that kirk of her like Fishlegs. Some even rarer like Ruffnut, were surprised before openly discussing with her and tried to come up with even more weirder swears. Hiccup was the first to say that he found it endearing. He might just have say that to not piss her off but Hiccup has this special way of making you believe him. Only him can sound totally honest when he is at his the weirdest. His strange humor was his special way to share his warm personality to those who can follow his round-about way of being honest.

She then looked at him in the eyes with a blushed face that she attributed at 90 percent to her sudden laugh and not at all on how Hiccup somehow pulled her heartstrings with his crooked smile and warm gaze with his bright forest green eyes.

_Okay, maybe 70 percent._

And he also had those delicious freckles highlighting his pale collarbone.

_… Let's say 60 percent._

She also could fell the rapid beat on his heart on her hand that was still on his firm chest rapidly radiating heat through her skin.

_Fine. 50 percent._

"A… Astrid?"

"Hmm?"

"You're okay? I think I lost you just there. Or are you really that starved that you really need to take a bite out of my skin?" asked Hiccup with a joking tone and a slightly worried look. It wasn't like her to space out like that and might really been hungry. After all she spent all day fighting Helheim's Gate without a minute to herself. But she would be that starved that she would resort to cannibalism right?

To her shame Astrid was completely lost in contemplation of Hiccup's body and tender look and stopped listening to him a while ago. She ended up staring at her hand on Hiccup's chest with thoughts that sure as hell wasn't professional.

"S-Sorry! I'm fine, just a bit tired. You were saying?"

Clearly she wasn't honest but Hiccup didn't insist.

"Nothing. Right, why are you here? Not that I have anything against it but you don't seem to be here for training."

"Yes! Right. I was looking for you actually. I couldn't find you at your lab, you weren't answering your phone so I tried all the possible place you could be but I didn't expect to find you in the locker room of the showers."

"Yeah, I spread some products on me earlier so I went to shower just in case it might be harmful. Why were you looking for me exactly?"

Suddenly Astrid's face turned serious and she left her close proximity with Hiccup to regain her usual professional self. Seeing this Hiccup couldn't help but felt a bit sad.

"We got a problem. A big one."

hiccup immediately turned serious.

"What is it?"

"I just come back from Stoick's office. It was real quick as he has a lot to do with the fallback of Helheim's Gate attack. But Hiccup, he knows."

"He knows what?"

"He knows that we're working with Night Fury. He want to see us two at 8AM sharp so that we explain ourselves to him."

It was like a bucket of cold water just poured itself on Hiccup's head. If his father was aware of his arrangement as Night Fury with Astrid it could only spell trouble. His father had like a personal vendetta against Night Fury. Usually he always stayed cold-headed in every situation and acted tough but fair. But somehow Night Fury seemed to get under his nerves. At least he was consistent as the only two persons Stoick had an unreasonable attitude with was Hiccup.

"How did he find out?"

"It wasn't that hard to figure out. A lot of colleagues saw Night Fury taking us and dropping us everywhere in Berk all day..

"But-"

"I know what you want to say. Yes, they didn't see him clearly but the Speed Force trails he leaves behind is kind of dead give-away. They didn't need to see him to know it was him."

_Right. I forgot about that._

"So, now that Stoick knows, what do we do? What do we tell him tomorrow?"

It wasn't an easy question. Hiccup could fabricate an excuse for tomorrow but he wasn't sure it was a good idea. It might not hold up to closer scrutiny. Moreover it was likely that Gobber would be there too and if he can dupped his father with a lie he wasn't sure that Gobber would fall for it.

In the end being honest was better. But how much of the truth should he tell? That they just working together to stop Helheim's Gate ? Telling him about the Speed Force? Or just telling the whole truth all together and confess that he was Night Fury?

Hiccup took a deep breath before quickly reaching a conclusion. He decisively said.

"We tell him everything."

"Everything?"

"Everything. Night Fury, Helheim's Gate, the Speed Force, the whole package."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. The war with Helheim's Gate for the Speed Force just reached a new level with the attack on Berk and those men who attacked you and Night Fury won't be the only ones. We can no longer kept the BCPD in the dark about what is really going on. Not if we want to stop Helheim's Gate once and for all."

For a moment Astrid said nothing but when she thought back at her day, especially when she saw the fight between Night Fury and the Nadders, she knew that it was now a fight that was bigger than them, bigger that both of them. They no longer could keep that to themselves.

"Alright. You're right. We have to tell him. But if we're doing it, we're doing right. Bring all we got: the footage Night Fury gave me, the data we got from our first meeting, your discovery of the metal box of the warehouse, your theory of the Speed Force, everything. We must show him everything, that's the only way we'll convince him."

"Absolutely. I'll show him everything we have and tell everything we know. That way there is a chance that tomorrow won't go that badly. We might even make progress towards stopping Helheim's Gate."

However in his head Hiccup followed that sentence by a less positive conclusion.

_But if we want Dad to listen to us, to be reasonable, I can't tell him I'm Night Fury. Who knows how he'll react otherwise._

He then took a look to Astrid.

_Who knows how she will react?_

Oblivious to the heavy gaze that Hiccup was throwing at her, Astrid made her way to the door.

"Alright then, it's decided. Don't stay up too late and go rest. You'll need every ounce of energy to face Stoick tomorrow."

"Don't worry about it. It was you guys who did the heavy lifting today. I mostly spend my day at the Plaza today. It is you who need to sleep."

"Well, if tomorrow goes badly I will have all the rest I might need once we're suspended."

Even if she said it lightly that possibility was still heavily resting on her mind. After all there was a possibility for it to happen.

"See the bright side. If that's the case you'll have all the time in the world to beat me up in training."

When Hiccup said that with his trademark crooked smile, Astrid couldn't help but feel a little better. She even started to play along.

"Alright then. Seeing how motivated you are to train, let's make a promise. No matter what happen tomorrow we train here at the same time that right now. That way I'll be able to have a closer look at that bright side you're talking about."

Hiccup was only able to answer with a grunt as he was less than happy when he saw the radiant smile on her lips. He was sure that tomorrow he will end up in quite a miserable state, again. The most frustrating part was that he could see every punch coming miles away but he couldn't avoid them lest he wanted to make her suspicious.

Astrid was quite amused by the depicted face of Hiccup and took pity on him. She decided to throw him a bone before leaving.

"Cheer up! Maybe tomorrow I will take a bite at your skin."

She didn't exactly know herself what she meant by that but quickly left the locker room and escape before Hiccup had the time to answer.

Meanwhile Hiccup was left completely agard as he dumbly stare at the door by which Astrid just left.

He didn't know if he should be afraid or eager of what will happen tomorrow anymore.

* * *

The next day, at the Police Plaza, one nervous Astrid was waiting for Hiccup at her desk as the time at which they had to explain themselves to Stoick was fast approaching. Next to her, nervously paced Fishlegs as he too couldn't help but be anxious at that meeting. In fact the whole gang at the exception of Hiccup was there, showing various degree of nervousness.

They were all in it with Astrid and Hiccup in Operation _Let's Work With Night Fury In Stoick's Back Because Helheim's Gate Is Way Too Dangerous_ as Fishlegs named it so she naturally informed them that Stoick knew and was awaiting explanation from her and Hiccup. After all she didn't know how much Stoick knew and if he knew they were working with Night Fury too. The meeting of this morning definitely impacted them just as much as it did her and Fishlegs.

Astrid looked at her friends all around her and couldn't help a small smile at the completely different reaction they each had.

Fishlegs was nervously pacing around while mumbling to himself all sort of stuff to reassure himself. Snotlout pretended to be composed while sitting in his usual pretentious way on Hiccup's chair but was nervously throwing looks in direction of the clock as the dreaded appointment time of 8AM was rapidly approaching. Another sign of how nervous he really was was the fact that for the whole time he's been here he didn't try to hit once on Astrid. It was the first time it happened in months. The last time was when she broke his wrist. He then learned his lesson for a record time of three whole days before being back to his usual self.

And then there was the twins. Astrid didn't think she ever saw either one of them really nervous. At most they would shrunk temporarily under Stoick's angry glare but all too soon started to behave as they usually did. And today was no exception. Tuffnut was happily chatting with Snotlout and didn't seem to notice that the latter wasn't listening to him at all. He continued to talk about some stunts he saw on Internet that they should absolutely try to do. At that moment it was debating to himself about whether or not they should also film it.

As for Ruffnut she was sitting close to Astrid and was looking at a photo on her phone.

"That's really it? That's what we've been running after for the past days? That's what Helheim's Gate killed that poor guy for?"

"Sadly, yes."

"It really doesn't help. We learned nothing new from it. I really thought we add something there."

"Me too."

What Astrid and Ruffnut were discussing was the photo on Ruffnut's phone which incidentally was the picture that Eric Walkers took of Night Fury. She shared it with Ruffnut and Fishlegs. Both of them had hope that if Night Fury has indeed corrupted the footage of the explosion in the warehouse to hide his leg then that this photo would show them what he tried to hide. But sadly apart from a bit more bruised image of Night Fury there was nothing remarkable to it. A bit of his skin was visible on his right leg where he was wounded but no tattoo or birthmark was visible. No sign that could help identify him was visible. Astrid felt that the whole Eric Walter's business was a complete failure. Ruffnut perfectly expressed her opinion.

"There is nothing! No tattoo, no birthmark, no scars, nothing! The picture isn't even clear and the resolution is even lower that the news footage of the bank-robbery. There is a lot more better photos of him online. The only new thing is that we know that he started to reinforce his suit with metal plates. Big deal! He obviously didn't do his right leg at that time or he wouldn't have been wounded like that. But now he's sure to have finish it. We just learned that Night Fury is wearing an armor. I could have guessed that before."

Astrid sadly agreed with Ruffnut. The only new things in this photo compared to other pictures of him online was the two tears in his suit. The first one show a mostly healed wound that told them that Night Fury bleed like the rest of them but they already knew that. In the second tear of his suit they could only some metal through the tear. That told them that Night Fury reinforced part of this suit with metal plates but that was it. There was nothing visible to even trace where that plate came from.

This photo had been a big waste of time for both them and Helheim's Gate. The saddest part was that someone actually died because of it.

"You're right Ruff. It is quite a tough blow to swallow."

"What is?"

Astrid turned around and so that Hiccup had just arrived.

"Hiccup, you're here! Great. Now I won't fear being alone to explain myself to Stoick."

Hiccup made an apologetic smile.

"Sorry I didn't plan to worry you. I planned to arrive earlier but I had to grab some stuff at the lab."

"Don't worry. The important thing is that you didn't arrive late to Stoick. I think he might have kill you even if you are his son."

"His son… I'm pretty sure he would have kill me anyway."

A strange look appeared on Hiccup's face as he said those words but it disappeared as fast as it came.

Astrid noticed it and wanted to ask but Snotlout, in his natural oblivious way, slapped him on the shoulder and roared in his loud voice.

"Don't worry Cousin! With me here Stoick won't kill you. After all Uncle Stoick loves me."

Hiccup hissed in pain as Snotlout had the good idea to slap him on his wounded shoulder. Even if on the exterior the wound looked healed, the collarbone was still patching itself together and his muscle were badly bruised making the spot extremely dolorous.

His face twitched but Hiccup tried to answer nonchalantly nonetheless.

"Yeah Snotlout. He sure does."

Snotlout remained completely oblivious to Hiccup's reaction and continued to blabber on.

"Of course he does. Who does love the Snotman? Wait. What if he doesn't love me anymore as you involved me in your Hiccup's business? That will be terrible! And then what if-"

But Astrid dryly cut him off.

"That will not happen. I'm sure Stoick knows that you're perfectly incapable of change. But more importantly..."

But Snotlout cut her off and immediately spoke again, visibly reassured.

"Yeah! You're right I'm incapable of change! So there is no reason that-"

But Astrid wasn't in the mood to listen to him and was rather worried about Hiccup.

"Snotlout, shut up! Hiccup, you're okay? It seemed like that moron managed to hurt you."

"Hey! It's not my fault he is so weak!" Protested Snotlout but Astrid royally ignored him.

Hiccup has a wry smile as he heard Snotlout's complain but he didn't pay it any mind. Rather he felt a bit touched by Astrid's concern.

"It wasn't Snotlout's fault, it's mine. Yesterday as I was taking some evidence from the evidence room I slipped from the ladder and made a bad fall on my shoulder. It wasn't much really, just a bad bruise but it is still painful. But nevermind that, what were you talking about when I arrived? What is a tough blow?"

Astrid however didn't answer. For some reason as she saw him like that she was reminded of a few weeks ago when he walked up to her when she was angry and the warehouse where Night Fury was ambushed had just burned down. At that time she thought something was different about him, a detail had changed and now she had the same feeling. But then the mental image of Hiccup in her mind shifted for the naked version of him she saw last night. It wasn't the first time that Astrid pictured Hiccup naked since last night. Because of the meeting with Stoick she didn't get much sleep that night and the rare hour of sleep she got was either spent having nightmares about Stoick sermoning her with a voice heavily laced with disappointment or dreams mixing some vivid recollection of different part of the anatomy of Hiccup.

Let's just say she often woke up with a flushed face and she was quite glad she was able to keep a straight face right now and that only a slight blush was betraying her thoughts. However she strongly hoped that she won't recall those memory every time she saw Hiccup. It would make working with him on a day to day basis a bit more complicated.

Seeing that Astrid still didn't answer Hiccup's question and was strangely blushing, Ruffnut took the initiative to answer Hiccup.

"It's the picture we got from Eric Walkers's phone."

Hiccup fought hard to keep his calm. Trying to hide his strong interest and the slight fear out of his voice, he asked the most nonchalantly he could:

"Oh? Isn't that the picture you and Fishlegs thought could help uncover who Night Fury was? The one Astrid desperately searched for?"

Astrid suddenly woke up from her reverie and protested.

"I wasn't desperately looking for it!"

But then everyone looked at her with a dubious expression. Even Tuffnut looked at her with a strange face.

"You were pretty desperate" said Ruffnut.

"You kind of forced us to drop everything we were doing to look for Eric Walkers." timidly added Fishlegs.

"I didn't force you, I-"

"You violently beat me up several times." complained Snotlout.

"That was just because stupid, nothing to do with Eric Walkers."

"You got mad at me like hell because I didn't tell you about that guy who yelled about Night Fury." said Tuffnut.

"Well that's-"

But before she could explain herself, Ruffnut prevented her.

"Admit it girl. You went pretty much insane looking for it."

Faced so much opposition, Astrid finally relented.

"I- I… I might have look at him a bit too hard. But I wasn't desperate."

She then began to silently pout. Hiccup ignored that last part and tried to bring back the subject that really interested him.

"So I supposed that it is in fact the photo that Astrid was trying to find. But what is it a tough blow?"

Ruffnut then gave him her phone with the picture on it.

"There, look at it yourself."

Hiccup nervously took the phone and looked at the picture. He immediately felt the blood freezing in his photo showed him in his Night Fury suit getting up from the ground. With his left knee still on the floor, it clearly showed his wounded thigh but worse was that the leg that was already up was his right leg with the tear on his suit clearly showing the metal plate of his prosthetic leg. For a long moment Hiccup said nothing as what he feared really happened. Now they knew that Night Fury had a metal leg, it is only a matter of time before they traced it back to him.

He stayed frozen in shock for a long moment as he tried to draw in his mind all kind of plan to get out of this mess. However Ruffnut interpreted his long silence differently.

"It sucks right?"

"Huh?"

"This photo. We really hoped we'll learn something valuable but there is nothing to exploit."

"Eh?!"

"There is just nothing useful. We can see some of his skin but there is no tattoo, no birthmark, no scars, nothing! It's frustrating to go after so much for it to turn out to be useless."

Hiccup was not comprehending what Ruffnut was saying.

_Useless? But didn't it clearly show my metal leg?_

Despite himself Hiccup couldn't help but ask.

"But what about the metal…"

"The metal plates? He reinforced his suit with metal plates, big deal! Unless you can see a logo or a mark on those plates it is useless to us. Moreover the picture is a bit blurred so we really can't even what kind of metal he used or have any way to identify where it came from. It really sucks that so much energy and blood went into getting that picture."

For a moment Hiccup looked incredulously at Ruffnut before watching the picture again.

It's clearly right there. How could they…

That's when Hiccup finally realized. People see what they want to see. For him that metal plate was obviously a metal leg because he knew what it was, but for other people they just saw some kind of armor. Moreover his metal leg had the shape of a real leg rather than that of a regular prosthetic leg so people assumed that the shape of the plate was to embrace the leg it protected.

Hiccup suddenly sensed a huge wave of relief passing through him. For the past days he was extremely worried about what would happen if Helheim's Gate or Astrid found the picture before him but turned out that he was worried for nothing. Most people looking at the picture would deduce that he had reinforced part of his armor with metal plates rather than think it was a metal leg. Now that he thought about it, it was rather normal. If the photo clearly showed him with a metal leg it would have been a huge deal and it was more than likely that Eric Walkers would have posted it online or sell it to a news station. But if he thought it was just a photo of Night Fury like many taken the past months he had gone public, it was normal he didn't even bother to post online such a low quality picture of Night Fury.

Hiccup couldn't help the small smile forming on his lips. Astrid frowned when she saw his reaction.

"Why do you look so happy?"

She clearly was still pissed at how everyone leagued together against her earlier. Hiccup quickly tried to correct himself and made his smile disappeared.

"I'm not happy. I just that now you would be able to spend more effort on catching Helheim's Gate rather Night Fury. I already told you, he's not the priority. You'll get him sooner or later so don't worry about him for now."

"Humpf."

Astrid didn't respond to Hiccup and coldly snorted. She clearly wasn't appreciating that Hiccup rubbed it in and gave her a resounding 'told you so'.

But it was at that time that Astrid suddenly noticed that it was time to go to Stoick's office.

"Sh*t! It's time! I hope you're ready Hiccup."

"Yes. I took my laptop and some of the evidences we got to show to my dad. If this won't do, nothing will."

Astrid solemnly nodded before both of them left to face Stoick. It was do or break for their future at the BCPD.

* * *

In Stoick's office the atmosphere was solemn and the air heavy. Astrid and Hiccup didn't dare to breath too much as they waited for Stoick to start speaking. As Hiccup expected Gobber was standing right next to Stoick.

After glaring at both of them for a long while Stoick started to speak.

"Both of you have a lot of explaining to do. Normally I wouldn't bother listening to your explanation as the facts are pretty self-explanatory but both of you are the best of department in your field. If you did something like that then there must a reason for it, especially you Astrid. So then how about you start explaining why, both the best members of the BCPD, worked with Night Fury, a wanted criminal that you were both supposed to catch and that not only you didn't bother telling your supervisor that you were working with Night Fury or explain any reasons as to why you did it but you also implicated other fellow members of the detective squad that you asked me to lend you without explaining why. I gave them to you because I trusted you Astrid so now you have to explain to me why I was right to trust you. And it better be good."

Stoick spoke without pausing nor screaming. He spoke in a calm voice but that calmness sent shivers down Hiccup's spine as he recognized that tone. It was the tone he used when he was really angry but trying really hard to not blow up.

Astrid and Hiccup exchanged a look before he nervously nodded and began to speak as they agreed to.

"It was my idea. We were-"

"Your idea?"

This time Stoick betrayed a bit of anger in his voice.

"Dad. I need you to let me speak first so that I can explain it all to you. There is a lot of thing that need to told and I promise we will tell you everything without hiding anything."

"You better be."

"But first I need you to listen."

He waited a moment for Stoick to respond and then after he saw Stoick give him a small nod, he started to explain.

"It all started after you tried for a week to ambush Night Fury to no avail…"

He then started to explain what happened in details. How he proposed to Astrid to meet with Night Fury so that they could try to better work against Helheim's Gate dangerous growth in power but also learn more about Night Fury and his powers. How Night Fury gave them evidence that he wasn't responsible for the death of those men at the warehouse. How Astrid exploited that footage to give them a lead to Eret and his gang of thieves that conducted them to Cadmus Lab. Sometimes Stoick interrupted to ask some questions, particularly when he heard that Night Fury gave Astrid a cellphone. Hiccup slowly explained things to him about the cellphone being untraceable because Night Fury deployed his own cellular network around Berk. Gobber confirmed to Stoick that it was indeed untraceable after listening to Hiccup's explanation. Hiccup then proceeded to show the USB key and its contents. He also showed them the footage they got from Astrid's meeting with Night Fury and the different instruments he used to measure everything.

At this point, even if Stoick was still feeling angry, he didn't seem to disapprove what they've done and was in fact quite satisfied with the results. Even if he didn't like the fact that they did it without his approval nor asking for permission, he understood why they didn't it. He might not have approved of working with Night Fury but he was the Commissioner. He understood that sometimes you have to work with people that you don't like and it was a rather smart move of them. That way they could work on both Night Fury and Helheim's Gate cases in a more efficient and productive way. Without Night Fury, Astrid and Hiccup would have never discovered Cadmus Labs.

However it was then time for Hiccup to explain the biggest piece of news: the Speed Force. He took a small breath and before starting to explain that far he needed to make sure that his dad and Gobber will let him speak.

"Dad, Gobber. I need you to be really attentive. What I'll explain right now is really important. It is the whole reason why Helheim's Gate is here and why they attacked Berk today. It is also the source of Night Fury's power."

With this words he knew he had the complete attention of Stoick. Indeed as he just said it, Stoick turned solemn and in gaze became extremely sharp as he and Gobber completely focused on Hiccup's words.

"It is also extremely important because I think that it will heavily impact Helheim's Gate next moves and our comprehension of it will affect our ability to counter them. It also one of the main reason we decided to tell you everything today."

Stoick nodded and said in a grave voice.

"Go on Harold. You have our attention."

"Thanks Dad. I want you to not say anything before I tell you everything. Some of what I'll say are some hard facts we discovered while others are my educated guess. After we retrieved the metal box from Cadmus Lab I analyzed them and it got me thinking about some of the showings I obtained for Astrid's meeting with Night Fury, I then tried to..."

Hiccup then started to show his analysis of the footage along with his hypothesis of what was the force powering Night Fury. He took his time to make sure that they understood. Strangely when he first said the name Speed Force he noticed that Stoick eyes twitched but he didn't say anything letting Hiccup finishing explaining. Hiccup then explained in details how powerful the Speed Force really was and Stoick and Gobber exchanged a look. But they still kept silent and let Hiccup speak.

He told them that Helheim's Gate wanted the Speed Force and managed to get a tube of it from them at Cadmus Lab. They even started to exploit it. It lead him to explain the attack on Berk and why they collaborated with Night Fury. Hiccup deduced from the incidents the day before that Helheim's Gate was trying to get a measure of Night Fury's abilities and only by collaborating with Night Fury could they countered Helheim's Gate's preparations for Night Fury during the attack. Finally he talked about the Speed Force powered pawn of Helheim's Gate that Night Fury fought and described how dangerous they were.

"The goal of Helheim's Gate right now would most likely be to refine the Speed Force they got right now and improve their creation of superhuman by try and fail. We just can't let it that happened. Even if you don't like it I think that working with Night Fury is our best chance to actually fight against Helheim's Gate. I know you don't like Night Fury nor approve of his actions but right now he isn't a threat and shouldn't be our priority. Helheim's Gate on the other hand is the real threat here and we just can't afford to let them grow stronger."

He then stopped speaking and waited for his father to speak. For a long moment Stoick said nothing as though he was deeply musing something.

"Dad?"

Gobber added a word in Hiccup's favor.

"You know Stoick, I think the boy is right."

After Gobber said that, Stoick closed his eyes for a moment before finally speaking.

"Harold, Astrid. You're both suspended. You now longer are to work on the Night Fury case or the Helheim's Gate case."

"WHAT?!"

Astrid didn't say much during all the explanation, only speaking to add a detail that Hiccup might have forgotten. But when she heard what Stoick said she couldn't help herself from yelling.

"Why?!"

"What do you mean why? Not only have disobeyed my direct orders to capture Night Fury when you had numerous occasion to do so but you even worked with him in my back and causing him to might have sabotage any evidence we found against him or Helheim's Gate. He's a dangerous individual that need to be stopped and not someone to work with."

Hiccup couldn't help but feel indignant. After all, all he ever did as Night Fury was trying to help.

"How is he dangerous? You saw it yourself: he only tried to help and he's ready to cooperate with the BCPD."

"Passing the fact that he killed three persons, if what you say is true he could be considered a dangerous weapon wielding a power comparable to that of a nuclear weapon. How is he NOT dangerous?"

Hiccup however ticked on Stoick's first words.

"Three persons? There was only one dead at the warehouse and we show you the footage proving he's not responsible for it."

"I'm not speaking of the warehouse. Even if this footage hardly counts as evidence, I'm ready to believe he wasn't responsible for that. However the facts remains true that he killed three men yesterday."

"What?"

"You don't know? Three of those four men with Speed Force that attacked Astrid and Night Fury at that house died. They died when Night Fury hit them. As for the last one, he didn't die from his injuries but he killed himself when he regained consciousness."

Hiccup urgently looked at Astrid. She was the one who clean up at the house after that. She would know if that was true or not. Astrid looked back at him and slowly nodded.

"That's true they died." She then spoke to Stoick. "But it was an accident, he didn't mean to kill them. I saw it, it was him or them. Moreover ..."

Hiccup stopped listening as those words hit him like thunder. "

_'That's true they died.' 'He didn't mean to kill them?'_

_T-They're dead? I killed them. I-I really did kill them with my own hands?_

For a moment he no longer could hear anything as Astrid continued to protest against Stoick's decision.

Hiccup's look became completely aguard as he was still under the shock of the news, unable to properly think. He somehow managed to get back to his sense when Stoick, finally exceeded by Astrid's relentless protests, spoke in a final tone.

"There is no discussion to have. You both clearly broke the rules and I have more than enough materials to have you fired. I suspend you for a week, it is already more than a lenient punishment."

But just as Astrid was about to protest once again, Gobber intervened in their favor.

"Stoick, it is a bit much. Even if they did broke the rules, they did it with good intention and they got results. Moreover we can't do without them. Not with that Helheim's Gate and Speed Force business."

Astrid paused when she saw Stoick thinking over Gobber's words. She knew that Gobber was the only one capable of changing Stoick's mind. If he couldn't make it, there is no way that she would be able to budge Stoick's mind.

After a moment of long pause, Stoick reluctantly changed his decision.

"Alright, Gobber's got a point."

He then looked at Astrid and Hiccup.

"You both are suspended for three days. It is non negotiable." added Stoick when he saw Astrid opening her mouth. "You can already consider yourselves lucky that it is only three days. Moreover after those three days you are no longer working on the Night Fury case."

"But-"

"No buts. I'm not finished. You still are to no longer work on the Night Fury case and you are no longer to be partners. Harold, your detective days are over. You immediately go back to the lab to process evidences. Gobber will be the one analysing the evidences on the Night Fury and Helheim's Gate cases so you'll need to hand everything over to Gobber. Astrid however you are still to work on the Helheim's Gate case. My decision is final. You can now get out."

Astrid wanted to protest but the look on Stoick's face told her that the matter was over. She no longer had any way to change his mind. Her opinion was comforted when she saw Gobber shaking his head as they were leaving. Nothing could be done at this point, she had to accept the fact that she was suspended and pulled over from the Night Fury case.

As she was leaving, she heard Stoick spoke the words she always feared to hear one day.

"Astrid, I'll need you to leave me your weapon and your badge."

With a heartbreaking face, Astrid slowly grabbed the gun and badge that was strapped on her belt. Despite a slight trembling in her hand, once she took out her gun and badge she decisively put it on Stoick's desk before hurriedly leaving, her face livid.

"Harold. You too." said Stoick.

Hiccup clearly had less attachments to his badge and gun. After all his were temporary and he always had to give them back at some point.

With a blank expression he also let his gun and badge on Stoick's desk before leaving.

Once both of them had left, Gobber walked to the door and delicately closed it. He then faced Stoick with a sad face.

"Was that really necessary?"

"You heard him Gobber. It's the Speed Force, there is no doubt about it. The way he described it, the powers it holds. It is the Speed Force as we know it. I knew I had a bad feeling about that Night Fury but I didn't thought it would actually be the Speed Force. Not after all these years."

"But did you really had to suspend them and break them apart. I think that they made a pretty good team."

"You know just like me that I couldn't take that risk. I can't have Harold anywhere near that stuff. That's why I didn't want him to pursue that career of his. But he's stubborn damn it!"

Then a sad look appeared on Stoick's features. He remembered the most heartbreaking moment of his life, that time where he saw her for the last time in the midst of all that blood and cries of pain. And then there was that … beast. He swore to himself that he would never let that happen again.

"Because of the Speed Force, I already lost Valka. I won't let it take our child too."

Gobber said nothing and could only shook his head. He knew Stoick for a long time and he was there that day. He could never forget what happened that day but apparently a blast from the past had made sure they didn't.

* * *

The morgue was dead silent as Hiccup stood there alone watching the bodies of the Nadders. Even if the proof was right in front of his eyes, he still couldn't believe it. He just couldn't believe that he actually killed three persons. When he started to act as a vigilante in the street of Berk he knew that this kind of situation where it was life or death between him and his opponent could happened, that it was an eventuality. But he always thought that with his abilities, with how much faster than others he was, that kind of situation would never apply to him. That he could just disarm his opponent before they could do anything. And yet here he was, looking at the bodies of three persons he killed of his own hands.

"Gothi. How did they died?"

Gothi threw a curious look at Hiccup as she could sense the depressed air around him but didn't say anything as she silently gave him her reports on each body. With a practiced gesture, Hiccup rapidly read all the details.

The first report was about the Nadder that Hiccup crashed into first when he wanted to save Astrid. He was sent flying into Dean's car when Hiccup rammed into him. According to Gothi's report he died on the shock. His ribs cage and his arms was fractured to smithereens and his skull was fractured. He didn't had time to suffer. Gothi described his death as comparable to being hit by a car at full speed. He had no chance of survival at all.

The second report was the last Nadder he disabled. In his memory Hiccup desperately pushed his gun into the air then did a roundabout kick to put him onto the ground before finishing him with a dropkick on the chest. He distinctly remembered hearing the bones breaking but at that time he didn't paid much attention. As he was reading the report he suddenly discovered how powerful his kicks had been. The roundabout didn't just put the Nadder on the ground but it also cleanly broke his legs. But that damage was nothing compared to what his dropkick did. He too had his ribs reduced to smithereens with not one piece left intact. That wasn't all, that kick also made a paste of his internal organs and shattered his lungs in several places. However his heart miraculously survived the impact making that he didn't die immediately. He died of suffocation from having his lungs filled with blood.

When he read that, Hiccup had to fight a strong urge to puke. He didn't realize how deadly he attacked them. But fighting the growing nausea he was feeling, he looked at the third report. It was the second Nadder he disabled, he had struck his arm with his palm to push away his gun before giving an elbow strike in his solar plexus. He was the only one who survived his attack. But his injuries were not light either. His right arm was broken in several places and his ribs were heavily damaged. Some pieces also pierced his lungs but he managed to be saved in a stable condition by the medics. However on the way to the hospital he apparently regain consciousness and grabbed the bistouri of the medics before they could react and slit his throat.

With slightly trembling hands, Hiccup read the final report. For that one, he had hit him on the shin in order to make him lose consciousness but seeing the amount of damage he managed to do so far he was a bit afraid of reading the report. As soon he started reading he saw that the damage he did was way more than just knocking him out. From Gothi's report the skull was severely fractured at multiple places and cracks spread like a web from the shin. The brain had been damaged from being rattled but what killed him was that the shaking severed the connection between his brain and the spine.

Hiccup's hands shook so badly that he dropped the reports. Gothi looked at him with a puzzled expression. She couldn't understand what was shaking Hiccup so much. It's not like he knew those people personally.

Meanwhile Hiccup was completely oblivious to Gothi's worry and could only stare blankly at the fallen report. After a moment he snapped himself out of it before bending over to pick up the reports. However his mind was miles away from there.

_How?! How?! I know that the Speed Force gives me more strength the faster I run but it shouldn't make me that strong is it? Did I- did I really hit them that hard? I just wanted to knock them out, not kill them! What I have done?_

He couldn't stay here any longer. He had to leave. Now.

He quickly gave back the report to Gothi and left so quickly that he was close to running. He hurriedly went back to his desk in the lab and prepared himself to leave. If was still early, barely 11AM, but he felt like he just had to leave. But just as he arrived at his desk he saw that Gobber was waiting for him at his desk.

"Ah, good you're back. Follow me Hiccup. We need to talk."

"Gobber. If it is about Dad suspending us I really don't want to talk about it."

"No, it's not."

"Then no matter what it is it would have to wait. I'm not really in the mood right now. I just want to leave and…"

"Dammit Hiccup! Just shut up and follow me. I said we need to talk then it means that we will talk whether you like it or not. Now, follow me."

He couldn't help but frowned at Gobber strange insistence. It usually wasn't like that at all. Maybe he really had something important to tell him. Forcing himself to push back the terrible feelings he got from his visit at the morgue he followed Gobber to his desk.

Once inside, Gobber cautiously locked the door before giving a strange look at Hiccup. He then sat at his desk and stared at Hiccup again. He then suddenly said.

"Did you really think I wouldn't notice?"

"Eh?"

Hiccup didn't understood what Gobber meant by that. Did he really think Gobber wouldn't recognize what? He had no idea what Gobber meant but somehow a worrying feeling appeared in his heart from Gobber's tone.

"Didn't recognize what Gobber?"

"Do you really think I would have forgot or that I didn't listen to you at the time? I have to say, I'm kind of disappointed by your lack of trust in me Hiccup."

"Gobber, what are you talking about?"

"..."

For a moment Gobber said nothing as he carefully studied Hiccup's reaction. Somehow it made the bad feeling in Hiccup's heart more urgent. Finally Gobber let out a soft sigh as he seemed to have determine something from Hiccup's reaction.

"You really think I would not have recognized it."

"What are you talking about? I really have no idea Gobber."

"The adaptative speed rate format? The special file that Night Fury gave Astrid with the program to read it, the one with the original footage of the explosion of the warehouse?"

"W-What about it?"

Hiccup could feel his heartbeat getting faster as he was getting nervous. Suddenly he got a terrible premonition to where this was heading.

"You think I wouldn't have recognized it? You think I wouldn't have remember that you made it in high school. Even if I didn't seem to be listening to you at the time, you spoke of it to me everyday at the lab for months! You just wouldn't shut up about it! How could I not remember it? For Christ's sake Hiccup, you named the extension .hhh3! Short for _Harold Henri Haddock_ also called _Haddock the Third_? Rings any bells? Tell me Hiccup, how could I NOT recognize it?"

Hiccup was stunned. He honestly didn't thought that Gobber would have recognize his high school project. Nobody paid it any attention or even understood what he was doing. Even when he blabbed about it for months to Stoick and Gobber none of them ever commented on it so Hiccup naturally assumed they just didn't listen at all. And yet Gobber recognized it at the first glance. He didn't know if he should be touched or mortified right now.

He didn't know how to react right now but he knew he couldn't hide it to Gobber anymore. He never had been good at lying to Gobber anyway. He looked at Gobber in the eyes and gave him his signature crooked smile.

"Well, Dad didn't recognize it and I talked to him about it even more than you."

Gobber recognized that look into Hiccup and the hidden sadness in his voice that he had every time he spoke of his dad. It always been that way since that fateful day. When he saw him like, him who was like his adopted son, he couldn't help but soften.

"Hiccup. You know that he's just…"

"Let's not talk about that. Not now. And we have a way more important problem. Now that you know, I can't hide anything to you. What now?"

Gobber let out a soft sigh. Apparently Hiccup wasn't going to try to deny it. Deep down he hoped that Hiccup would have an explanation about it, any explication rather having to admit that Hiccup had effectively did it. But now there wasn't any hope for another possibility left. He might as well try to understand everything from the beginning.

"Tell me everything from the beginning. How did you meet him?"

"Huh?"

"What? You won't tell me how you met Night Fury?"

"How I met Night Fury?"

"Yes. And after that you need to explain to me in details why you agreed to help him. Because I don't need to tell you that but you put yourself in a lot of trouble when you did."

Hiccup stared blankly at Gobber for a second before finally realizing something. Gobber didn't know he was Night Fury! He just thought that he was working together with him. That he was the genius sidekick that came up with all the great gadget that Night Fury was using. Hiccup couldn't help but let out a small laugh of relief as he realized what was going on.

"What? Why are you laughing? You're in serious trouble Hiccup."

"Oh, I know Gobber. I known. Now let's start shall we."

* * *

Gobber kept him in his desk all day. There just was never an end to his questions. They even eat lunch at his desk when he ordered an intern to go fetch lunch for them. And he continued to ask him all kind of questions while they eat. Hiccup felt exhausted by all the talking he did. Gobber asked him all kind of thing and he had to answer in details like how he met Night Fury, what exactly was doing Night Fury, did he trust him, why exactly had he been working with Astrid and the BCPD, etc.

For the most part Hiccup kept his answers truthful, only hiding the fact that he was Night Fury but it was a tiring exercise to tell so much of the truth while being careful to not letting pass a slip-up. But as tiring as it had been, it also had been great to finally to have someone to spoke of his double-life, although indirectly. It helped elevated the crappy mood he was on. But he still needed some time alone to digest all that happened today.

In the end he managed to make Gobber promised to not tell anything to his dad. In exchange he had to keep Gobber in the loop of his activity with Night Fury. In the meantime Gobber will try to discuss with Stoick to change his mind about Night Fury but he couldn't make any promise. Hiccup didn't mind as he knew how his dad was.

When he finally managed to get back to his desk, he got a feeling of a deja-vu as Astrid was sitting at his desk like Gobber did so many hours ago. He then spoke to her in a joking tone.

"Please don't tell me you also have something urgent to tell me."

He thought that Astrid would deny it but she just looked at him, not saying anything.

"Seriously?"

Astrid didn't show in reaction as she stood up and said.

"Follow me."

"Astrid. I'm really tired. Whatever it is, it can wait tomorrow when I'll add a fresh night of sleep and..."

"Hiccup. Please."

Hiccup abruptly stopped speaking when he heard Astrid. She sounded serious and at the same time her voice carried a certain emptiness that was unusual. Even more unusual than the fact she said please.

Without saying anything anymore, Hiccup nodded and follow her. As they walked he recognized the direction they were taking. They were going to the dojo. At first he didn't understood why they were going there but when they arrived he suddenly remembered the promise they made last night.

"Oh right! We did say that we would be doing a training session. Astrid, I'm really tired, I can't-"

"Don't worry, I won't take much of your time. It-It's just something I need to do. Please."

Hiccup could feel his resolve melted completely when Astrid looked at him like that. He just couldn't refuse her anymore. He let out a helpless sigh.

"Alright, just let me grab my training clothes and then-"

"No need."

As she said that Astrid moved to a closet nearby where she remove a training gear of the BCPD that she gave to Hiccup. It was composed of a t-shirt and short with the logo of the BCPD on it. Usually Hiccup wore pants during training because of his leg but when he saw the way she looked

at him he didn't fight her and went to change into the short and t-shirt.

However when he came back he saw that Astrid was looking strangely at his leg, almost glaring at it. But she then moved to get the fighting glove for both of them.

"As we are kind of short on time I proposed that we moved directly to sparring without the warm-up."

Hiccup who was putting his gloves looked at her strangely. She always insisted from day one that he must always, always, do warm-ups before training and now she was saying they will go without?

"Astrid, are you sure? Because-"

But before he could say anything else she came charging at him. He immediately dropped in a fighting stance and began to evade her attacks.

Something was different today. She immediately started to attack him at full speed without letting him to get used to it. Soon he began to take some hits and he could feel that they were loaded with complex emotions.

Hiccup didn't know what was going on but he knew that Astrid needed to express some anxieties and emotions. She was trying to get something out of her system and this way was the only way she knew how.

Hiccup stopped asking questions and began to meet her in earnest. He didn't know what was going on with her but knew that she wanted - no, that she needed him to seriously fight her so she could get over whatever was eating at her.

Soon the sparring became quite heated and both exchanged a hundred of moves already. Hiccup took a lot more hit than Astrid but he still managed to get a few in. Normally his stamina should have been empty right now but he could feel that Astrid was not over yet and so he continued to fight her with his stamina as Night Fury. They have reached the point where they no longer needed to talk, their fist was doing that for them. Astrid needed to express something she was suppressing and Hiccup was trying to help her.

As the time went on they entered a kind of rhythm that only them understood. They no longer was anything in the room to them except each other and their hot body hitting each other with dripping sweat. Forest green gaze was meeting blue ocean iris. One had the harmony of the forest trying to bring calmness to the wave of complex emotions submerging the blue of the ocean. The other was looking for something in the greenery of the forest, answers to questions she couldn't formulate.

Suddenly, at some point during the sparring, the questions in Astrid's gaze was replaced by the gleam of determination. Using a moment of inattention and a weakness in his guard, Astrid grabbed Hiccup's arm and threw him over her shoulder. Hiccup couldn't help a small grunt of pain as he heavily fall on his wounded shoulder. But Astrid wasn't finished as she used the momentum of the throw to move on top of him and locked his arm with her legs and put her fist on Hiccup's throat.

She then said her first words in what have been a long but intense fifteen minutes.

"You lose."

"Yeah, I can see that. But did you have to throw me? In case you don't remember I hurt my shoulder yesterday." complained Hiccup.

"I remember." calmly replied Astrid.

"Great! Then just a small question like that. Completely random. Do you like to hurt me?"

Astrid had a small smile. Hiccup would always be Hiccup.

"I can't say I don't."

Hiccup grumbled as he already regretted asking the question. Astrid let out a small laugh.

"Don't worry. I didn't ask you to come just to hurt you."

"Really? You could have fooled me. So please, pray tell, why I am here?"

Astrid didn't say anything as she took off her gloves. She then moved dangerously close to his face while her hands moved to his chest. Hiccup could feel the hot breath of Astrid on his ear as she whispered to him.

"Can't you guess?"

He then felt Astrid's hand slowly moving down his torso, dangerously nearing a sensitive zone.

"A-Astrid?"

But she didn't answer. Instead her hands continued to move down. Hiccup grew increasingly nervous. It wasn't that he had anything against Astrid's idea, he dreamed of it every since he was in age of dreaming of it, but Astrid clearly wasn't in her normal state. Something was wrong and he couldn't just letting things like that.

"A-Astrid, are you sure that you're okay?"

But she ignored him. Her hands continued to move down, passing his crotch and starting to sensually caress his legs.

"As much I love it, and I do mean love it, I can't help but feel that something is wrong. Are you sure that you're okay and won't regret it later? Because I would rather that you don't."

Astrid then moved her face very close to Hiccup's, her lips right above his. He could smell the sudden wave of the sweet scent of her body mixed with her sweat. It created an extremely intoxicating smell that almost made him lost all kind of reasoning at this very moment. Astrid then told him in a very sensual voice.

"Don't worry. I won't regret it."

But just as he was trying to register what she just said, he heard a loud familiar click.

_Click? Isn't that my…_

Suddenly dread filled him as he felt like the temperature of the room dropped several degrees. He perfectly recognize that click. In fact he couldn't be more familiar with it as he built it himself and used it several times a day. That click was the sound of the mechanism on his metal leg that changed his usual metal stick appearance metal leg to his superhero fake metal foot.

Just as he realized what was going on, Astrid suddenly moved away her face from him and looked at him with a fiery as she firmly kept him pinned to the ground.

"Now, anything you want to say, _Night Fury_?"

* * *

**End of the chapter**

**How about I end this fanfic here? ^^ Just kidding.**

**Well there is a lot I have to say:**

**First, that chapter was freaking looong! More than 12.000 words and it took 23 pages on my GoogleDoc. And I wrote all of it last week -_-' I have to say I had to force myself a bit to write to be able to meet the deadline but I'm quite happy with how all of it turned out.**

**Second, how do you like the new cover? Alejg made me quite a nice surprise last week-end when he sent me the link to the drawing he made of this fanfic. And it's quite well drawn too. You can check it out on deviantart at /art/HICCUP-IN-A-FLASH-Fanfic-by-Natan-Fierreta-657245250?ga_submit_new=10%253A1484360647&amp;ga_type=edit&amp;ga_changes=1&amp;ga_recent=1**

**Next a few messages I'll like to answer to. First I have to give back to Caesar what is to Caesar. The guest reviewer who signed "Its me" was right before. He correctly guessed that Helheim's Gate actually attacked Berk as a feint to collect the Speed Force and he guessed at chapter 19 when Hiccup was exposing his theory to Astrid. So congrats! ^^ I did noticed it at the time but I didn't want to say it because I didn't want to ruin the surprise but you did indeed had correctly guessed Helheim's Gate's plan. You were more clever than Hiccup on that one.**

**I also would like to thanks again those who left those enthusiastic messages as I love to read and re-read them. I love how passionate they are.**

**I'll admit that Red Death is indeed scary and creepy but that was the look I was going so I'm glad it worked ^^ You will hear more of him from now on.**

**And finally, here it is, finally, Astrid knows! I had that scene in my mind for a long time and I'm glad I finally got to write it. As for why I had to change the orders of the scene that caused me trouble for the last chapter it was because at first, that first scene of Astrid seeing Hiccup in the shower, it was supposed to happen in the last chapter. But I didn't want to separate the scene when we learn that the picture didn't in fact exposed Hiccup and the scene where Astrid confronted Hiccup, I thought it would be too cruel for the people who were eagerly awaiting for Astrid to expose Hiccup.**

**Well then that's the end of my rant, I hope that you enjoyed that chapter and I'll try to do the same thing for the next chapter and publish it in 3 weeks. Have fun! **


	27. Chapter 27 - Aftermath (3) -Another side

**Hiccup in a Flash, chap 27**

**I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or its characters, just merely borrowing the character for an adventure of my own.**

**Please enjoy yourself with this fanfic ^^**

**SURPRISE!**

**I really liked all your reviews, they gave me the motivation to write sooner this chapter. I think that will answer all of your questions or not… :D**

**\- Chapter 27: Aftermath (3) - Another side**

* * *

As much as we would all love to know what happened after Astrid confronted Hiccup for being Night Fury while she pinned him down on the floor of the dojo of the BCPD, I think that you might find Astrid's day to be quite interesting to understand what happened and what she went through.

Let's all go back a bit in time to learn a bit more about Astrid's day. To put it simply it had been awful.

First she barely slept. Well I supposed that the reason why she barely wasn't that bad.

Hiccup. That strange, unpredictable, unexpectedly charming guy was the reason she stayed up most of the night. Even if she did nightmares about her meeting with Stoick - which in the end went pretty much like those nightmares - the dreams she made about Hiccup far outstripped her nightmares in numbers and vivacity.

Hiccup was just a constant enigma in her life. And usually she hated enigmas.

That guy who she didn't even remember being with her most of her time in school, that guy she thought to have completely figure out - a bit geeky and with an erased personality but professional and reliable for evidences - kept on surprising her and proving her wrong again and again.

First, even if he was definitely geeky, he was far from having an erased personality. He faced her dismissing of him head-strong and proved her that he had guts as he saved her life several times. He had a sharp eye and ingenue mind capable to find solution in helpless situations and a boundless optimism that made him dared the scariest stunt. And he wasn't just good at his jobs, he was smart. Crazy smart. He was even smarter than her - not that she'll ever admit it to him. He amazed her with his revolutionary theories and analysis but also the patience he showed and how good he was to explain it all in a simple way.

While she thought at first that he didn't have any personality he proved her wrong multiples times by showing her his warm and kind personality. Warmer and kinder than hers.

And that pissed her off. She couldn't admit to herself she judged him that wrong, that he was so much more that she thought he was. That he might even be more than who she was. That's why she had to be mean to him. That's why she couldn't accept that he was who he showed her.

After Hiccup confronted her, she agreed to let go of the labels she had put on him and gave him a fresh start on both of them. A redo of their relation. But even then, no matter what she did, she just couldn't figure him out completely.

Sometimes he was this timid self, presenting himself as a lamb to a wolf for her to toy with, other times she was the helpless lamb and couldn't help but fall to his rhythm and playing in the palm of his hand.

The worst thing was that she didn't hate that sensation. Her normal self hated being manipulated by someone, but when it came to Hiccup, even if she got angry, she couldn't bring herself to hate him.

On the contrary she began to realize she couldn't get enough of her daily interactions with Hiccup. His crooked smile, his bright forest green eyes, his awkward side, his confident side, his courageous side, his crazy side, his authoritarian side, his brilliant side, she just couldn't find any side of him she hated.

And then there was his loving side...

There were times when he looked at her and thought she didn't notice but did. On those rare times, usually at seemingly random moment, he looked at her with feelings so strong that it almost beamed from his eyes.

Not feelings of hunger like Snotlout or most of the men she ever met, men who lusted for her body. No, true feelings, profound loving feelings with a depth she thought only existed in bad romance books. It irradiated, not a desire to possess, but an almost need to be closer and cherish her. To kiss her tenderly senseless and be able to die happily after. Every time it happened Astrid had to do her best to act as if she didn't see anything and fought at her hardest to not blush furiously.

At first, she didn't know how to react in front of such strong feelings and judged better to not think about it too much and just continued to ignore him. But lately she came to enjoy more and more those looks he gave her and even began to long for the next time he would look at her that way.

The more it happened, the more she got confused. Astrid wasn't an idiot, she knew what was going on.

She was falling for Hiccup. That unpredictable and hazardous partner of hers, all of those she normally hated in someone. But no matter what she used to hate, she enjoyed her being with him. No matter how chaotic their relation was or how badly they ever left, she always longed for the next time she will see him again.

However for some reason she wouldn't admit to herself that she was falling for him. But then came the sign she couldn't deny anymore. She opened up to him, started to confess about herself, told him stories of her past she never told anyone or almost. She spoke of her emotional scars and didn't end up regretting or feeling bad for having told him.

That's when she knew that she definitely was falling for him but still tried her best to act as if nothing had changed.

However something kept confusing her. She could feel that she was going through the same process with Night Fury.

She ended up confessing to him her emotional scars about her swearing, liked the idea of being partner with him. She was often mad at Night Fury and wanted nothing more than to arrest him but at the same time she always wanted to see him more. And just like with Hiccup, her exchanges with him were fresh and made her act in different ways than what she was used to.

Both Hiccup and Night Fury made her change into a new Astrid that started to act differently than all she always did before. She realized how wrong she reacted sometimes and started to act better with her friends, to be more tranquil with them, to enjoy more their company. She even started to not get that mad and annoyed everytime that Snotlout opened his mouth!

Both Hiccup and Night Fury made her react in fresh way and slowly transformed who she was into someone Astrid definitely liked. Even if the process was difficult and terrifying for her, she liked who she was becoming.

Night Fury and Hiccup changed her and she very much enjoyed being with either of them. She just couldn't fall in love with both. No. She wouldn't let herself fall in love with both. She would rather be with none of them than fall in love with both. It would be far less cruel in the end.

And then came last night. When Astrid discovered one more side of Hiccup that made the scale of her heart fall for him even more. His handsome side. It wasn't that the physical aspect of him just win over erything else. But when she saw his finned tuned body, his firm chest, his muscular legs, his rugged chin, his handsome face and his look of surprise of a deer caught in the lights of a car that just make you want to grab him and -hmm moving on. When she saw all that pleasant package put together, the furious blush of his reaction that were just pure Hiccup, she realized that she would rather go for that strangely funny Hiccup that she could reach rather that the ever eluding Night Fury.

She chose Hiccup because, even if she could get closer to Night Fury, it was sure to finish badly. She would one day found who he was and will arrest him. She couldn't see any way for things to go anywhere for her and Night Fury in the future. They would have to stay people with great chemistry but who end up walking different path.

So in the end she chose Hiccup but it didn't mean that she would start professing her love to him and immediately started dating him. She would continue to interact with him like before but now she wouldn't be that opposed for things to go farther. Maybe even starting a thing or two.

All that explained how she had a night with so little sleep as she kept dreaming of her previous interactions with him but that only with slightly more pleasant ending where more often that not Hiccup ended up naked. Like when she surprised him in the shower earlier but this time Hiccup couldn't find any towel to cover at all. Or some of their training sessions where she would wear a bit less clothings. Needless to say that Astrid woke up several times with a flushed face and a ragged breath.

But this is not what I wanted to tell you about. I was speaking of Astrid's bad day. As I was saying, it did not started great -minding the whole "dream of Hiccup's business"- and the nightmare she made about Stoick ended up happening pretty much in the same way in real life. She didn't understood how it suddenly all went south. At first Stoick's reaction was pretty good.

Sure he wasn't happy but he was the Commissioner and understood the choice they made. He was even really interested in the results they got and she was even willing to bet that he was secretly impressed by how far in their investigation they went. They managed to have a rough structure of Helheim's Gate and identified some name of key players like Bloodfist. They even uncovered the true goal of Helheim's Gate and made them play in the open their trump cards. To have accomplish so much on such a large organization just by themselves on that little time was really good. Excellent even.

At first she thought they would be alright, that even if he would surely yelled at them for a bit, Stoick would still let them continue what they did so far. But then Stoick did the exact opposite she thought he would.

Without saying a word about the why, he immediately suspended them. It was just too sudden. He suspended them for a week! Granted Gobber managed to reduce that to three days but that doesn't change the fact that they are suspended!

The worst part however was that he put an end to her partnership with Hiccup and even forbade him to work on either the Night Fury case or the Helheim's Gate while she was still allowed to work on the Helheim's Gate case. If she negotiated later when Stoick calmed down, she was sure she could be allowed to work on the Night Fury case again, albeit she would no longer be in charge but at least she would be able to work on it.

However for Hiccup Stoick had been categorical. He wasn't allowed anywhere near those cases. She didn't understand why Stoick didn't want him, and just him, on those cases when he had been so invaluable so far. Without him they wouldn't be able to uncover half of the stuff they did. But Stoick had been categorical.

After she went through the humiliation of handing over her badge and weapon, she left in hurry, her mind in shambles. She would need time to process what just happened. It started so well, how did it end up just like in her nightmare? After she left Stoick's office she went back to her desk where were awaiting the rest of the gang.

"How did it go?"

Ruffnut could sense from Astrid's mood that it didn't went well but she still had to ask.

"Bad."

"How bad?"

Nervously asked Fishlegs.

"Hiccup and I are suspended. Three days."

Ruffnut made a grimace when she heard that. She knew how bad it was for Astrid to be suspended like that. She tried to reassure her.

"Ouch. Well it could have been worse."

But Astrid wasn't finished.

"I'm no longer on the Night Fury case. I only allowed to work on the Helheim's Gate case. And…"

Astrid took a pause as the others were listening to her, not daring interrupt.

"And Hiccup is no longer my partner. In fact he's banned from any field work and can't work on either Night Fury case or Helheim's Gate case anymore."

Everyone could tell that Hiccup received the heaviest punishment of the two of them. Fishlegs couldn't help but commented.

"That's harsh. Stoick was really tough on Hiccup. But if you think about it it isn't that bad."

But Astrid didn't see it that way and practically aggressed Fishlegs all of a sudden.

"How is it not that bad Fishlegs?! How?! How is any of it _not that bad_?"

Astrid's sudden outburst visibly intimidated Fishlegs as he tried to explain himself in a small voice.

"W-Well, he's not a detective in the first place. He's a… a…"

He didn't dare to finish his sentence under Astrid's glare. But Ruffnut finished it for him.

"He's a forensic scientist, Astrid. Even if he was damn good at being a detective his true calling is still to be a forensic expert. From the start he was bound to go back to it. Getting mad at Fishlegs won't change that."

Astrid eased up her glare and let out a sigh. It was true. Hiccup was a forensic scientist, he wasn't meant to stay her partner. Technically the only harsher part of his punishment compared to hers was that he no longer could work on the Helheim's Gate case.

"You're right. I'm sorry Fishlegs. I'm quite agitated right now. I didn't mean to take it out on you like that."

A stunned silence planned on the group. Just what was happening? Astrid apologized _again_? What's going on?

Astrid sensed the uncomfortable silence and couldn't help but complain.

"Oh, come on guys! I was wrong and I apologize. It isn't a big deal. I can at least do that."

"Not before meeting Hiccup." added Ruffnut with a wink.

Astrid grumbled as she really couldn't deny it. Before she spent time with him she was rather harsh on them and never was one to admit when she was wrong. But to her defense she was rarely wrong. At least professionally.

"Er… Did Stoick say anything about us?" timidly asked Snotlout.

Usually would have been mad at him for asking such a selfish question but she understood that it was a legitimate question. Despite all his flaws, when Astrid ask him with the others if they would keep the fact that they worked with Night Fury a secret he agreed with all the others, in spite of the personal risk. And then when she needed their help against Helheim's Gate, he also agreed. He took a huge risk, as they all did, and for that they deserved to know.

While the others fully expected Astrid to punch Snotlout in the face and went ballistic, she instead gently smiled and calmly answered him.

"No, don't worry Snotlout. Even if Stoick knows that you went along my plan of helping Night Fury, he didn't hold it against you. There shouldn't be any punishment for any of you."

Mute in shock by Astrid's calm answer, Snotlout didn't add anything and nodded his head in silence. Then Ruffnut seemed to speak for everyone when she said the following.

"Girl, that meeting really made a mess out of you. It's worse than I thought."

Astrid just rolled her eyes, slightly amused.

"Thanks for the support Ruff."

She then looked at the empty chair next to her and asked.

"Any of you saw Hiccup?"

"No. Not since he went with you to see Stoick."

"Alright, thanks Tuff. I'll look for him."

They all looked at her leaving. Then Snotlout asked at no one in particular.

"It's me or Astrid is…"

"Weird? Yes, I know. She didn't even beat you up. Sad."

Tuffnut completed Snotlout's sentence.

"Hey!"

Snotlout tried to protest but everybody ignored him.

"She is being nicer. And not just today." added Fishlegs.

"Yep. But I don't dislike that Astrid." commented Ruffnut with a knowing smile.

* * *

Astrid looked for him everywhere she could think of but didn't saw him anywhere. However she knew that he was still at the Police Plaza because his stuff was still at his desk. He shouldn't be far.

_Where the hell is he?_

She didn't exactly know why she was looking for him but she had noticed he had a weird look on his face at the end of the meeting with Stoick. She also wanted to consult him about what they should do from now on. Even if Stoick said they no longer were partner, she didn't want to give up of Hiccup as her partner.

_Think Astrid. He looked weird so he might not be where he usually would be. Wait... He started to act differently when he learned the death of those guys who attacked me and Night Fury. Did he go to the morgue?_

Following her hunch, she made her way to the morgue. Once there she saw Gothi but no trace of Hiccup.

"Gothi, was Hiccup here?"

Gothi silently nodded.

"Where did he go? Did he left long ago?"

Gothi took the notepad she always had with her and began to write her answer. After what seemed an eternity, she gave Astrid a piece of paper.

_'You just missed him. He left not 2 minutes ago. I have no idea where he went but he looked strange.'_

"I know. Thanks Gothi."

_So he did go to the morgue. Where is he now? Wait! He's suspended. There shouldn't be any work left for him to do. He might have gone to take his stuff._

She then made her way to Hiccup's desk in the lab. But she still missed him as he wasn't at his desk. However his stuff was packed together, telling her that he did pass here. She asked one of the other forensic experts who she never remembered the name.

"Did Hiccup passed here?"

"Er… Yeah. But Gobber was waiting for him. He took him to his office."

"Thanks."

She went to Gobber's office but stopped in front of it, not knowing if she should enter. She didn't exactly had a specific reason to call Hiccup over but on the other hand it was likely that Gobber called Hiccup over to discuss the fact that Stoick suspended him and pulled him off the Night Fury and Helheim's Gate cases.

As she was about to knock, she faintly heard Gobber speaking.

"You really think I would not have recognized it."

Astrid didn't mean to eavesdrop but she always had a good hearing but couldn't help but hear Gobber spoke.

"What are you talking about? I really have no idea Gobber."

"The adaptative speed rate format? The special file that Night Fury gave Astrid with the program to read it, the one with the original footage of the explosion of the warehouse?"

"W-What about it?"

Hiccup sounded nervous. Did he hide something to her? When she heard him present it during the meeting he told them everything he told her. Despite her best intention she began to carefully listen for Gobber's answer.

"You think I wouldn't have recognized it? You think I wouldn't have remember that you made it in high school. Even if I didn't seem to be listening to you at the time, you spoke of it to me everyday at the lab for months! You just wouldn't shut up about it! How could I not remember it? For Christ's sake Hiccup, you named the extension .hhh3! Short for _Harold Henri Haddock_ also called Haddock the Third? Rings any bells? Tell me Hiccup, how could I NOT recognize it?"

Astrid clearly heard Gobber as he was speaking at a louder volume than usual.

_Hiccup made that program? But..._

Astrid was so surprised that she almost didn't hear Hiccup's response.

"Well, Dad didn't recognize it and I talked to him about it even more than you."

_He really did! What does that mean?_

She completely abandoned the idea of knocking on the door as she continued to listen to their conversation with bated breath. After five minutes of listening in she finally left as Gobber kept asking questions. She heard everything she needed to hear. She now needed to process this piece of news in a quiet place.

* * *

Staring blankly at the ceiling of her desk, Astrid's mind was miles away from what was happening around her. Everybody else in the squad left her alone as they knew she was still under shock of her suspension. The fact that she got suspended was already common knowledge at the Police Plaza. Even Ruffnut and the rest of the gang left her alone so to not bother her.

However Astrid's preoccupation was far from what everyone thought it was. Despite the initial shock of learning that Hiccup was working with Night Fury, she wasn't mad. Well, she was no longer mad. She will still beat the shit out of him for lying to her once she get her hands on him but it wasn't that bad. And she had already made peace with herself that she will no longer pursue Night Fury. But that's just for now. When all that madness is over she definitely will arrest him and at that time she will make Hiccup cooperate with her to find out who he is. She was confident she could make him cooperate by either seducing him or beating him up.

It's not that she was still obsessed with the idea of arresting Night Fury or still viewed him as an enemy or a menace of any kind. In fact she rather liked the guy and secretly was a supporter of his. But she made a promise to herself and to Night Fury that she will catch him. That was her promise to him and she intended to keep it. But for the moment she wasn't in a hurry to arrest him and could wait a few years before arresting him.

_Hiccup is working with him huh?_

In fact a lot more things made sense now. Like how he knew so much about the Speed Force or how she managed to meet Night Fury so soon after she agreed to Hiccup's plan to ask for help to Night Fury. And she thought before that the one who developped that program Night Fury gave her on that usb key must have been made by a genius well-known in the community. Turned out she was right afterall. She still remembered what Hiccup told her when he dismissed the idea of looking for the geniuses in Berk.

_"He might not be the one that made all that, he could have a partner, a sidekick if you will."_

_Yeah, he got a sidekick alright._

She smirked to herself. She was silently musing the irony of things.

She didn't stay to listen to the reason Hiccup agreed to help Night Fury but she could guess why. After all they were pretty similar and must have it off with each other pretty well.

In her mind she imagined Hiccup and Night Fury sitting together at a table and being sarcastic to each other.

_That would be a sight to see. Not sure they would ever stopped though._

She was quite amused by that scene. In her mind Hiccup was facing her while she could only see Night Fury's back, his helmet resting right next to him. She couldn't see his face, only the back of his head but he had a large crown of messy brown hair similar to Hiccup but a shade darker. They were happily discussing together. She couldn't hear what they were saying but it sounded fun. But then Hiccup noticed her and his gaze started to brighten up in that adorable way he did when he was seeing her. He even gave her his crooked smile. But then, in that mental image of her, Hiccup unexpectedly turned up naked. A bit surprised, she tried to show no exterior sign of surprise of how her mental image of the two of them together abruptly shifted. Only the upper part of ears turned a shade redder.

_I really need to stop thinking of him like that! It really is quite disturbing. But again it is his fault that he showed himself completely naked to me. Not my fault if I keep thinking._

Ignoring the voice in her saying that this had nothing to do with her constantly picturing him naked, Astrid went back in her mental image of Night Fury and Hiccup. They were still discussing but Hiccup continued to stay naked. The contrast was extreme: Hiccup a bit ridiculous being stark naked with his pale skin and Night Fury completely dressed in imposing Night Fury black suit. It was quite a funny image thought Astrid with a small smirk.

_They are like two opposite. They look nothing alike right now. The only thing similar is the hair and-_

Astrid's thoughts suddenly stopped as she noticed something. Something that she didn't realize before but that her subconscious had been trying to tell her numerous times. Often when she pictured Hiccup naked, her mental image started to move down downstair and she would often chase the image away in embarrassment. But right now when she was comparing the two of them she noticed something. Something that she couldn't believe.

In her mental picture, Hiccup and Night Fury abruptly stopped talking. Night Fury began to raise up and slowly turned over. His face was no longer hidden and his hair became a shade brighter. Tears in his suit began to appear, matching the picture that Eric Walkers took. She could so the metal plate on the tear of his left leg. Then the tear began to grow bigger until the whole part covering his foot disappeared. In his stead a metal leg appeared. It was an exact match to the metal leg of the naked Hiccup standing right next to him in the exact position than her memory of last night when she entered the dojo. She then looked up and saw the face of Night Fury. He looked exactly like Hiccup downright to his crooked smile. Astrid suddenly opened her eyes.

"Hiccup. No. It can't be..."

But her brain was already working at full power and bringing back all kind of memories.

_Yesterday, I didn't notice at the time but Hiccup's leg wasn't his usual metal stick but it looked exactly like a real feet but only in metal. What if in the photo it wasn't a metal plate but a metal foot? But, but… Wait! This morning he said he hurt his shoulder, the exact one Night Fury got shoot at yesterday. And when he came back that morning when the warehouse blew up he..._

Everything started to piece itself together towards a single solution: Hiccup was Night Fury.

_Hiccup is Night Fury? But that's impossible. He can't be._

However now that this train of idea was started it was just impossible to stop. More and more doubt and suspicion came together from small details to large discoveries. One thing was for sure, she couldn't go back now that she started to go down that way.

Astrid got the feeling that her head would overload and couldn't continued to think like that. In the end it was all supposition. As unlikely as it was, she might have remember wrong or it could be a misunderstanding. In any case she needed to verify if she was wrong or not and she had an idea on how to do just that.

* * *

Astrid sat at Hiccup's desk and patiently waited for him to finish his discussion with Gobber. She didn't listen at what they were saying but she could still hear Hiccup's voice inside Gobber's office so he should still be there. In a way she was glad that Gobber was such a talker because it gave her more than enough time to think of a way to confront Hiccup and verify for sure whether he was Night Fury or not.

But as she waited for Hiccup at his desk, a frightening question came up to her mind:

_What if Hiccup is Night Fury?_

But this time the question was different from the almost two thousands times she asked herself that question today. This time it wasn't about whether or not Hiccup was Night Fury. It was about what was the consequences if Hiccup IS indeed Night Fury.

_'What if Hiccup is Night Fury?'_, that question was heavy in consequences. That sudden realization shook Astrid's heart. Hiccup and Night Fury were similar and yet so different. One was sweet and was sometimes so adorable that she could eat him up while the other was confident and full of mysteries. Yet both were brave and had their heart at the right place. But if Astrid could accept that Hiccup was Night Fury's sidekick, it was a completely different story if he was Night Fury.

Astrid had promised herself and was firmly resolved to arrest Night Fury one day. That fact didn't change despite how much she liked Night Fury and it was one of the reason she decided last night that she would rather chase the available, and surprisingly handsome, Hiccup rather than the elusive Night Fury. Him and her were destined to play a game of cat and mouse where both appreciated the chase and respected and even liked the other party. But they both knew deep down that this chase would one day ended with the cat catching the mouse. They were in two very different camp and those two camps were at odds which each other. One was chasing while the other kept on running. And neither Astrid nor Night Fury were willing to abandon their camp.

But as she thought of Night Fury being Hiccup, she felt her resolve wavered. That sweet, funny Hiccup, that reliable partner of hers that seemed to constantly stumble on her heartstrings made her feel different. He made her feel that she was evolving in a fully functioning human just by being by his side. And she enjoyed being at his side. As a matter of fact she recently discovered that she would really enjoyed being by his side besides work. That she wanted him to be her partner in her personal life, for him to have her back beyond their professional relationship.

However if Hiccup was Night Fury, all of these were bound to disappear. He wouldn't be able to stay by her side anymore and doubted that she would be able to pass any more time by his side. She would returned to her bitter self that only knew how to work and couldn't bear to be civil with her own friends, using them as a mere outlet for her daily frustration. She definitely didn't want to go back to her previous self but wasn't confident in being able to do so without the witty Hiccup capable of making laugh at the most unexpected times.

As she thought back and realized what Hiccup being Night Fury meant, an unexpected question popped in her mind.

_Do I want to know if he's Night Fury?_

Astrid was surprised by her own thoughts. Of course she wanted to know! That's all she wanted for month! To know who Night Fury was once and for all. But did she? Did she really wanted to know who Night Fury is so much that she might lose Hiccup over it? Did she really wanted to know if Hiccup was Night Fury?

Just as Astrid found herself unable to answer that question, the door to Gobber's office opened. Promptly looking up, she saw Hiccup leaving the office with a tired expression on his face and coming her way.

Astrid's heart suddenly seemed to beat a million times faster as she was unable to determine how felt at that moment.

Then Hiccup noticed her at his desk and asked in his tired yet amused way which always followed his crooked smile.

"Please don't tell me you also have something urgent to tell me."

Astrid said nothing as she blankly looked at him.

_Do I want to know?_

"Seriously?"

Hiccup seemed to notice the solemn air around Astrid and guessed that she wanted to talk to him. Knowing that in the end those things were unavoidable, Astrid finally spoke to him.

"Follow me."

However Hiccup was really tired and wrongly thought she wanted to discuss their suspensions.

"Astrid. I'm really tired. Whatever it is, it can wait tomorrow when I'll add a fresh night of sleep and..."

However Astrid didn't let him finish or she knew that her resolve would weaken otherwise.

"Hiccup. Please."

Seeing that she wasn't in her usual state, Hiccup promptly shut up and obediently followed her to the dojo. After all he knew her the best and sense that she needed him to go along with her.

As they arrived, he misinterpreted the reason why Astrid brought him here. But she had predicted as much so she played along.

"Oh right! We did say that we would be doing a training session. Astrid, I'm really tired, I can't-"

"Don't worry, I won't take much of your time. It-It's just something I need to do. Please."

Knowing that she was determined, he sighed but went along with her.

"Alright, just let me grab my training clothes and then-"

"No need."

Astrid also anticipated it and had prepared spare clothes for him. One that would show his leg. She throw it at him and went to change herself. When she returned, he also had just finished changing. She glared at his metal leg as if looking at it strongly enough would reveal its secrets, sparing her what would follow. However she noticed Hiccup looking at her and went to grab fighting gloves for both of them.

So far she was following her plan to expose Hiccup but wasn't sure if she would have the mind to carry it out in the end. To not let her resolve weaken even more, she decided to move forward a few steps in her plan.

"As we are kind of short on time I proposed that we moved directly to sparring without the warm-up."

Hiccup looked at her strangely but she didn't leave him time to think.

"Astrid, are you sure? Because-"

She was already charging at him and started the spar at full speed. Hiccup went along as he dropped into a stance and began evading her attacks. She had hoped that the spar would clear up her thought as she it usually did but soon she discovered that her thoughts didn't calm down at all and were even more furiously agitated than before.

_Is he Night Fury? Is he not? In all logic he shouldn't be. But then why did he…?_

Her mind kept getting messier as she still hesitated on whether or not she wanted to know. At first Hiccup was confused by the sudden sparring but soon he started to meet her in earnest and even managed to hit her a few times. It was inconsequent to Astrid who was still agitated as she couldn't come up to a decision. In despair she looked at Hiccup, really looked at him in the eyes.

Those beautiful forest green eyes were also looking at her and only at her. Even if they show some confusion, they were filled with warmth. He didn't know what was going on, had no idea about what was gnawing at her but only understood that she didn't want him to ask question or speak. He understood she needed something else and was doing his best for her.

Their exchange began to heat up and neither of them needed to think anymore. It was like a carefully repeated dance that shook their body together, mixing their sweats and emotions. Astrid felt a large warmth filled her as Hiccup once again proved how much he understood her.

_Oh, Hiccup. Why do you have to be so you? Why does it have to be you?_

The tempest of her thoughts finally began to calm down as she felt Hiccup's warmth calming her mind.

Having exchanged more than a hundred move already, they went into a rhythm only them understood. Nothing else existed in the room anymore apart from each other. Only existed each other breath, each other sweat, each other warmth, each other eyes.

_If only this moment could last..._

Forest green gaze was meeting blue ocean iris. One had the harmony of the forest trying to bring calmness to the wave of complex emotions submerging the blue of the ocean. The other was looking for something in the greenery of the forest, answers to questions she couldn't formulate.

Astrid no longer desired anything more than for them to stay like that, in a trance where only existed the other, where words were no longer needed and where problems were left behind them.

However a small disturbance broke that peace as Astrid's breath became a little ragged from that continuous exercise at full power.

_I'm already tired. However Hiccup is still following me. That shouldn't be possible except if…_

Astrid didn't finish that thought as her gaze was suddenly filled with resolve. She couldn't let this continue any longer. She knew who she was and knew she had to know. Using a gap in Hiccup's guard, she grabbed him by his arm and throw him over her shoulder where he heavily landed on the floor.

Not letting him recover, she used the momentum of the throw to put herself on top of him and locked his arm on the ground. She finished him with a fist an inch away from his throat. Once she got him where she wanted him, she spoke and declared.

"You lose."

Astrid completed in her mind.

_I will know the truth._

"Yeah, I can see that. But did you have to throw me? In case you don't remember I hurt my shoulder yesterday." complained Hiccup.

"I remember." calmly replied Astrid. She really did.

"Great! Then just a small question like that. Completely random. Do you like to hurt me?"

Astrid had a small smile. Hiccup would always be Hiccup.

"I can't say I don't."

Hiccup grumbled as he already regretted asking the question. Astrid let out a small laugh. She always liked the banter they would often shared and couldn't help playing along. It might be their last time doing that after all, bantering with each other without worries.

"Don't worry. I didn't ask you to come just to hurt you." smiled Astrid, even if her heart wasn't really into it.

"Really? You could have fooled me. So please, pray tell, why I am here?"

He spoke as if annoyed but he couldn't hide the excitement he always had concealed in his eyes when she was next to him. She could feel her heart melted. She no longer dared to look at him in the eyes.

She took off her gloves and moved her lips close to his ear as she put her hands on his chest. She could feel the heat radiating from his firm chest as she sensed the strong muscle under her fingers. She then asked him.

"Can't you guess?"

Slowly her hands moved down him. She couldn't really enjoyed the soft touch she felt as she knew that her hands were moving closer to the instant of truth. The moment when everything will stop being the same.

"A-Astrid?"

Her mind was in completely shambles as she was seconds away from an answer at something that was eating at her. Even if she knew that she needed that answer, deep down she was afraid of the answer.

"A-Astrid, are you sure that you're okay?"

But she ignored him. Her hands continued to move down, passing his crotch and moving down his legs.

"As much I love it, and I do mean love it, I can't help but feel that something is wrong. Are you sure that you're okay and won't regret it later? Because I would rather that you don't."

Her heart trembled and she moved to look at him in the eyes. She could see in his eyes his overflowing feeling for her, his desire of her and the passion he was feeling at that moment as she was so very close. And yet, on top of it was a genuine concern for her. Despite his deep-love, he... No. Because of his deep-love for her, no matter how burning or turned on by her he felt he wouldn't allow those strong feelings to overcome his worry for her, his concern for her happiness. His musky scent was overflowing her senses as she could feel his warm breath on her lips. The idea of kissing him was so tantalising right now. But she had to know first.

"Don't worry. I won't regret it."

Even as she was about to unmask him, he still was only worrying about her well-being first, not minding his burning feelings for her. It really moved her and comforted her in her idea that she really wanted for thing to work out with him. Feeling her heart in her throat, she silently prayed as she moved her finger around the connection of Hiccup's metal leg and his cut off leg.

_Please don't be him, please don't be him, please don't be him..._

However reality was cruel. She quickly felt something pivoting around the metal leg followed by a loud click. She didn't need to look at it as her fingers felt something moving under them and she heard sounds of pieces of metal piecing themselves together. She knew what was going on, his leg was turning to the same state that it was yesterday night and took the form it had on Night Fury's photo.

She felt her heart sink as her worst fear came true: she was right.

Hiccup was Night Fury. He was exposed. They could no longer go back to how they were. But even as she felt depressed, she quickly chase it away as she reminded herself of who she was.

_You're Astrid Hofferson. A strong woman and best detective of the BCPD. You're stronger than that. You can lament about it later but for now you have a dirty lying partner to kill._

Astrid moved away her face from Hiccup and looked at him with a fiery look as she firmly kept him pinned to the ground.

"Now, anything you want to say, _Night Fury_?"

* * *

**End of the chapter**

**At first I really didn't plan to stop at the exact same point than the last chapter but getting into Astrid's depth and psyche took way longer than I thought and it is already longer than an usual chapter. When I thought about how much I needed to tell next, I realized it could easily make another chapter.**

**So I decided to stop there for that chapter and you'll get an explanation between Astrid and Night Fury immediately in the next chapter! I promised!**

**And as an apology I'll add in the next chapter a story you wanted to know for a long time: how Hiccup… Well you'll see ^^**

**You can all thanks my brother who insisted for me to release that chapter so soon. But if I don't manage to be regular later you can all blame him ^^**

**See you in 3 weeks! ^^**


	28. Chapter 28 - Please, don't be mad?

**Hiccup in a Flash, chap 28**

**I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or its characters, just merely borrowing the character for an adventure of my own.**

**Please enjoy yourself with this fanfic ^^**

**\- Chapter 28: Please, don't be mad?**

* * *

There, you're all caught up. You know what went through Astrid's mind as she faced Hiccup. Now let's go back watch as Hiccup painfully die.

Oops, sorry! I'm getting ahead of myself there.

* * *

Hiccup was a little surprised, to say the least. Let's say that his first response was kind of pathetic.

"N-Night Fury? M-me? H-How could I be Night Fury? That's not possible. Astrid let me-"

"Save it, you dirty liar!"

Astrid punched him in the shoulder which she knew for a fact that it had a recent encounter with a bullet. She needed to relieve the surge of emotion that was threatening to break out. She really didn't want him to be Night Fury.

"I heard what Gobber said to you his office. I know that you're the one that made that program and all that stuff that Night Fury uses. Except that Gobber was wrong. You're not the nerdy sidekick who helps Night Fury. You _are_ Night Fury."

"Y-You heard us? How? I'm sure I closed the door and-"

Hiccup didn't expect that she heard him and Gobber talking earlier. It will make explaining himself much harder.

"I was looking for you. I knew you went to Gobber's office and was about to enter when I heard Gobber. But that doesn't matter. The important thing is that I know. You can't escape me anymore."

Hiccup began to panic as he heard Astrid cracking her knuckles. He knew that he didn't find an excuse and soon, finishing beat up to a pulp was a real possibility.

"W-Wait! I can explain!"

Astrid smiled while Hiccup could feel a cold sweat rolling down his face. He knew that smile, and it never preceded something good.

"Really? I'm listening then. But you have a lot of explaining to do because you left quite a trail behind you."

"A trail?"

Hiccup was getting worried. It seemed that there was more to it than Hiccup thought.

"Yes, a trail. A long trail of clues and mishaps that you left behind. I didn't notice at first, but now that I know the truth, a lot ended up making a lot more sense. But please, I'm quite eager to see you try. Let's start simple. How come your shoulder got hurt at the same spot that Night Fury got shot at yesterday?"

"I told you before. I fell from a ladder when I went to retrieve some evidence."

"Passing on the fact that you were supposed to have spent all day in your lab monitoring the attacks of Helheim's Gate, how do you explain that you were also injured the last time Night Fury was hurt? He hurt his leg and the next morning you just so happen to be wounded in the same leg."

"What?"

"Yes. You think I didn't notice but the next morning that Night Fury was ambushed at the warehouse, I noticed that something was different when you came in. It's only later that I remembered that you were limping right after Night Fury took a piece of wood in the leg from the explosion."

"Astrid, in case you didn't notice I have only one leg. It is normal that I limp sometimes."

However, his excuse had the opposite effect that Hiccup expected as Astrid's gaze became even more ferocious instead.

"I'm so glad you brought that up. In all that time I have known you after you lost your leg, you never limped. Not even once. It was so much so that I didn't realize you were missing a leg until after Snotlout told me. Believe me. I would have known if you usually were limping."

"You didn't notice?"

Astrid's blazing glare shut him up.

"But I'm not finished. Far from it. Not only were you limping when you usually don't, but you also were not limping with your right leg, the one with the missing foot. You were limping with your left leg, the same leg Night Fury was injured."

"You're sure you didn't get it wrong? It was quite a long time ago. A lot of stuff happened in the meantime."

"Indeed, a lot of things happened, but it wasn't that long ago. But let's disregard how you always seem to be injured when Night Fury is injured. Why you knew the reason I use Nordic swear words?"

"Huh?"

"Yesterday when I asked you if you ever heard of Baldr you said to me that your father was never shy of swearing so you didn't have to learn the Nordic pantheon to be able to say swear word. How did you know that I say Nordic swears because of my parents?"

He didn't quite know what to say. He didn't expect Astrid to bring up her swearing habits. His answer ended up sounding more like a question than a reply.

"You told me?"

"No, I didn't. But I told it to Night Fury."

"I heard it in high school?"

"No. The rumors in high school were that I was either a complete nutcase or an attention-whore trying anything to stood out."

"I guessed it?"

"Unlikely."

"Well. No bragging but I am quite smart."

"Nice try. Then, _smart guy_, another question: how come you never were in the same room that Night Fury?"

That one was easy. Hiccup knew it would end up coming.

"I already told you, Astrid. It was better for you to meet Night Fury alone when you first contacted him. It was a sign a good faith. Besides I had to manage all the sensors and detectors hidden in that alley, so I really couldn't have-"

"I'm not talking about that event. Although moments before Night Fury showed up, you weren't answering your com all of the sudden. Moreover you always conveniently weren't there when Night Fury showed up afterward. I am speaking about yesterday morning, just before Helheim's Gate's attack on Berk. Night Fury showed up, but you weren't there yet. Assuming you were late, why Night Fury didn't bring you back when he went looking for you. It would have been easier to bring back with the equipment so that you could explain to us how they worked and correctly calibrate all of it. Instead of doing that, he shortly came back with just the equipment, saying that he spoke to you. Even assuming he got there immediately after leaving, how did he know where your lab was? Why did he say he had time to discuss with you when he barely left for 5 seconds?"

"I didn't have much to say to him, and he thought he could manage by himself."

Astrid wasn't buying it, but it didn't matter as she was only warming up.

"While we are on the subject of yesterday morning, why did Night Fury seem to have a beef with Snotlout?"

"Snotlout?"

Hiccup wasn't following.

"And it wasn't just how he specifically embarrassed Snotlout by putting him by putting him in the zoo in the elephant's pen. It also happened when we tried to ambush Night Fury. I noticed that everytime that Snotlout was there, Night Fury always went out of his way to embarrass him as Snotlout was bragging. I even wondered at the time if the two of them didn't have a history together. But now it's clear. Night Fury doesn't miss an opportunity to embarrass Snotlout because he's your cousin."

"Well. It doesn't necessarily mean that. You do have to admit that Snotlout is often a pain in the ass. I'm not familiar with what happened during the ambushes, but I'm sure he deserved what happened to him. Besides, if my memory serves me right, you also quite often slash out to Snotlout."

Astrid had to admit that he scored a point. The first time she met Snotlout, she didn't need a history with him to punch him in the face. Snotlout did tend to be insufferable.

"You're right, I do slash out at Snotlout quite a lot, but you're not the only one with a good memory. What about two days ago? When you made me dinner, and we discussed how to fight off Helheim's Gate attack. You spoke about implicated Night Fury into your plan."

Hiccup got a terrible feeling about it but couldn't help but ask.

"What about it?"

"Can you explain to me why you suddenly started to used '_I'_ instead of '_he'_ when you spoke of Night Fury?"

"..."

"I distinctly remember you saying: _'They did those tests to be sure of the window of opportunity they would get if they lure **me** somewhere to be sure that** I** won't interrupt them.'_ And it wasn't just once: _'All that planning is for that one window of opportunity where they'll know **I** can't interfere.'_ How do you explain that?"

"..."

"And that's not all. I also found the way you saved us from Eret and his men at Cadmus Labs suspicious. I called Night Fury for help, but he didn't answer nor showed up, which is weird for him, but somehow you managed to shoot off the lights from more than thirty feet. Moreover, when you fired the lights didn't go off, but it went off when a shot was fired on the side of Eret and his men. The only explanation, besides that Eret or one of his men shot the lights, is that you used your powers of Night Fury to turn off the lights."

Hiccup didn't think that Astrid had noticed the difference in timing for the lights in all that confusion that went on at Cadmus Labs.

"Moreover you acted extra strangely just before we found the Speed Force. You immediately went for Main Lab B while the tracks were leading to Main Lab A. It is like you know that there was something in it. But I bet that it had something to do with the fact that you are Night Fury."

"..."

"That's also why you know so much about the Speed Force. It is also why Night Fury wasn't surprised to hear the words Speed Force when I used it yesterday morning when we were preparing for Helheim's Gate. Night Fury already knew the words Speed Force and that we knew it too."

This time, Hiccup had something to say for his defense.

"I wasn't the one who created the word Speed Force. A professor wrote about it. It was in an article of Dr. V. Vikingson who-"

"It doesn't matter! The fact remains that you were a bit too good in understanding the Speed Force and its capacities. Just like you were too good at the first spar we did together but suddenly got worse ever since I pointed it that you shouldn't have been easily avoiding my blows like that. Just like you were too good when we sparred earlier. You showed no sign of being tired when you usually faked being tired sooner."

"..."

"And that wasn't the only thing that you lied about, isn't it? You always tried to lead me astray from finding out who Night Fury was, repeating to me over and over that I should focus solely on Helheim's Gate. When I came with the hypothesis that Night Fury might be a genius, you quickly tried to convince me otherwise. But I wasn't that far off, was I? You made the program and all that stuff that Night Fury used, but that wasn't all you did, didn't you?"

"You also corrupted the footage of the warehouse that Night Fury gave from the ambush Helheim's Gate did for him. You meticulously tried to hide his right leg from the footage under the pretext that the explosion damaged it. But it wasn't. What you were trying to hide was the same thing that the photo Eric Walkers took showed. The metal part that we saw through the costume isn't armor. It is a metal leg. This leg."

Astrid pointed to Hiccup's now revealed metal leg. Hiccup hadn't said anything for quite a moment now.

He watched Astrid as she kept emptying her bag. He could feel the emotion being more and more present in her voice as she went on with her arguments and questions to him. As she pointed at his leg, he looked at her straight in the eyes, really looked at her. She didn't meet his eyes for the past minutes, but now that she did, Hiccup couldn't help but noticed that her eyes were slightly wet and full of complex emotions. Apparently confronting him like that cost her quite a lot.

But Astrid still went on.

"What Night Fury desperately tried to hide from us, with that photo and the footage of the warehouse, was the fact that he- No, that you got a metal leg because you are Night Fury."

Her voice was firm and full of accusation as she finished to expose the trail of clues that proved that Hiccup was, in fact, Night Fury. However, Astrid couldn't keep her emotion to herself anymore. She didn't know what to think anymore. In fact, despite the overwhelming proofs against him, Astrid still somehow hoped that she was wrong and that Hiccup could miraculously explain how all of it was a big misunderstanding, that he wasn't Night Fury. That he could explain that he wasn't the guy that she knew she shouldn't fall in love with. But that hope was very dim and couldn't take much place in her heart.

"Now, please explain to me all of it. Explain to me how you are NOT Night Fury."

Despite the complex emotions inside her, she managed to keep a firm appearance and resolutely faced him. Hiccup kept being silence as he continued to stare at her.

He didn't expect things to turn out that way. If it was just his discussion with Gobber and why his leg as such an appearance, he might have been able to provide some explanation, saying that his leg was a prototype for Night Fury's armor or something of the same effect. But now that things went that far, after all the details that Astrid gave him he didn't see how he could refute her.

And then as he observed the raging emotions hidden in Astrid's gaze, the ragged breath of her long monolog that seemed to have exhausted her both mentally and physically, he didn't know if he should lie to her anymore. He didn't know if he could lie to her anymore. He slowly closed his eyes to think for a moment but he already made his decision.

After a long sigh, he opened his eyes and looked at Astrid with an apologetic expression and a crooked smile that contained a hint of sadness.

"Please, don't get mad?"

Astrid was anxiously awaiting his answer, but when she heard his plea, her worst fear was confirmed. She could feel a heavy weight falling upon her heart. But it wasn't time for some self-pity. She first needed to punish that lying traitorous son of a troll.

She threw a plunging punch into the guts. Hiccup, still pinned down on the floor, could only whimper in pain.

"OUCH!"

But it wasn't over. When Hiccup was no longer in a position to defend himself, Astrid made a second punch where she knew would hurt him the most: his injured shoulder.

Hiccup was pretty sure he heard his shoulder cracked again.

"OWW! I'm still hurt from that bullet I took for you, remember?"

Astrid didn't show any emotion as she coldly replied.

"You heal fast. You'll get over it."

"Yes but I still feel the pain you know."

"Good."

Astrid's gaze got harder as she started to glare at him. She needed answers and didn't care what she had to do to get it.

"Now, if you don't start to explain yourself I'll make sure that I break your shoulder again before going to see your father and explain to him how his son suddenly found a new way to pass his nights. Understood?"

He couldn't say that he was surprised. From the moment he resolved himself to admit that he was Night Fury, he knew she wouldn't let him go before she had all the answers she wanted.

"Fine. What do you want to know?"

"Everything. But first tell me, how did you get you powers? Did you always have them?"

"No, it's relatively recent. It was an accident. I didn't plan for it to be happening and I still don't know the exact detail of how and why but I got those powers the same night I lost my leg."

"I heard about that. Snotlout told me that you put the lab on fire with an experiment went wrong and passed out. By the time you got rescued it was already too late. Your leg was too severely damaged, and they had to cut it off."

"Yeah that what's most people believe but things didn't exactly go out that way."

The look on Hiccup's face became glassy as he started to remember what happened that night. It wasn't exactly a fond memory. His voice became distant as the events of the day were coming back to him.

"It all started when I was looking for some of my stuff in my father's garage. I only recently moved out of his house because I could no longer stand the constant disapproving looks he gave me each time I was speaking with him about my work at the lab. And to be honest, the suffocating silence that always lingered in the house wasn't helping. I felt I needed a place to call my own. Even if it wasn't as convenient as before."

Hiccup made a small pause as he let out a soft sigh. His relation with his father had never been easy. It wasn't that bad before when he was still very young. Even if his mother wasn't there and they didn't share the same personality, they were still doing okay and were quite close. But that was before the incident.

"Anyway, I doubt you are interested in that story. The point was that I just moved and still didn't have all my things. As I looked for some of my past projects that I stored in the garage, I found a small metal case covered in dust. It was quite odd because it didn't look like anything that my father ever owned. I got curious about what was inside, but it was locked. I looked everywhere in the garage, but there was no key which could open that case. Dad wasn't home at that time, so I took it with me to the Police Plaza."

He could still picture that case as if it was yesterday. If he had left it in the garage that day and asked Stoick later his life would have been very different.

"That day, there was a prisoner riot at Iron Heights Penitentiary, and the situation got tense as they took some hostages among the wardens. Dad was on site and was busy all day, so I didn't bother him with it. After I had finished all the work that Gobber gave me that day, it was quite late when I ended up alone with that box. It was raining hard outside, and I was in no hurry to get home. So I decided to take a look at that case. I had to drill into it as the lock was too hard to pick. All I found inside was some foam and a test tube with some chemicals inside. It was quite strange. There was no label on the box or any mark of any kind on the test tube to indicate what it was. But the weirdest thing was that liquid inside the tube. It was shining a faint blue halo, but it was not phosphorescence as it had not been exposed to any source of light for at least the last several years. It was likely it's own light source. I got curious and tried to use the equipment of the lab to test it and determine what it was. But it wasn't anything like I ever knew."

At that time he did extensive tests to try and determine what it was but every single test results were completely off the charts making it impossible to determine what it was. Moreover, the results didn't make any sense. It showed that it conducted extremely well electricity, but when it reached a certain voltage it was as if all power inside the tube disappeared and nothing could pass through anymore. He also discovered that it wasn't at room temperature but warm. However, no matter how he tried to heat the solution or freeze it, the temperature of the liquid wouldn't change. It completely went against all his expectations of physic laws.

"After extensive tests, I had to admit that I just wasn't able to determine what it was. That liquid was completely out of my reach. Reluctantly, I gave up trying to figure out what it was and was about to put it back in the locker of chemicals with all the chemical products of the lab when the lightning hit me."

"The lightning hit you?"

Astrid was quite surprised. From where it was going she could guess that whatever was it that tube was the reason why he got his powers but didn't expect that something as unpredictable as lightning would suddenly appear in that story.

"Yes. To be more precise, it didn't hit me directly. It came from the window and destroyed the tube I was holding before hitting me. At that time I got the weirdest sensation, it was as if everything around me suddenly went still and I was able to see the lightning exploding the tube before hitting me. Even if I saw it the liquid splashing on me and the lightning bolt coming my way I was like frozen and could only watch it hit me."

The sensation of seeing your doom arrived at slow speed and yet being unable to do anything was something that was hard to put into words. The dread and fear at that time were still very present in his mind. But what Hiccup didn't know was that the lightning bolt that hit him wasn't going his way when it appeared. It was about to hit the flag pole outside the Police Plaza which acted as a lightning conductor when it changed direction a few feet from it as the lightning bolt suddenly got attracted by whatever was in the test tube.

"Afterwards everything went back to normal speed, and I flew into the locker of chemicals next to me. I passed out at that time, but Gobber came in when he heard the noise. He thought that I blew up something again and got worried as he felt the explosion all the way to the parking lot. He told me that he found me under the locker with all the chemical poured on me. The lightning apparently started a fire in the lab and ignited some of the flammable chemicals that got on my leg. The water sprinklers activated themselves of course and turned off most of the fire in the lab. However, the water badly reacted with some of the chemicals on my leg and made it worse. Gobber pushed the locker and the chemicals away from me and put out the fire on my leg, but it was too late. He immediately took me to the hospital, and they put on the operation table. Despite an erratic heartbeat that seemed to have stopped several times, I was still miraculously alive. But when they saw the extensive damage the fire and the chemicals did on my leg, they judged that it was too late. The best they could do was to cut it off and try to salvage my knee properly. The next morning I woke up with a severely damaged knee and my leg cut off a few inches under it."

Astrid couldn't imagine what he must have felt when he woke up that morning. A few hours ago he was completely fine, at the peak of his health normally going to his day, and the next moment you woke up, and you're missing a leg. And it wasn't like it happened when he was doing some dangerous tasks or driving in hazardous conditions which could justify such an ending. Instead, it was something completely unpredictable like lightning. The worst part was that he survived the lightning nearly wound free. What made him lost his leg was the chemicals that poured on him and the fire that resulted afterward.

"At first I had some real difficulty to accept what was happening to me. Every night I could feel burning the leg I didn't have anymore. The doctors said it was normal, that it was phantom pains. Worse, the wounds on my knees weren't getting better and started to be infected. At that time the doctors were discussing whether they should amputate my knee too. Each night I woke up every two hours, drenched in sweat and fighting off burning pains. The painkillers weren't helping anymore. But one night I couldn't control the pain anymore and screamed like I never screamed before. It was both from pain and frustration to my misfortune but what I didn't realize at first was that time seemed to freeze around me. Just like it did when the lightning bolt hit me. I only noticed when I saw a drop of sweat slowly falling from my face. I tried to move, but like last time my body was also frozen. It remembered the helplessness I felt when I saw the lightning coming but couldn't move or do anything. I had a panic attack and desperately tried to move. Suddenly, I could move again, and I fell extremely fast from the bed. I realized later that this was the very first time I used the Speed Force."

That time he also really worried the nurse when they saw him on the ground like that as he had reopened the wounds of his knee. But he was too surprised to really care.

"From that moment on, things got better. My knee started to heal quickly. It went from the point where the doctors were advising me to amputate my knee to a good looking scar in less than three days. The doctors called it a miracle. I almost stopped having phantom pain anymore and had very few nightmares. Every time I would wake up from a phantom pain, the sensation of time being frozen was back, and I needed less and less effort to be able to move. After a week, I was still stuck in bed, so I tried some tests. I discovered that I could now control the time when I had the sensation of slowing time. After another week I had perfectly controlled that sensation. When I got my prosthetic leg and was able to walk again, I realized that I wasn't slowly time, but I was able to move incredibly fast. That sensation of slowing time came from when I focused my powers solely on my senses and my brain. When I could walk again, I should have need three months of re-education therapy before being able to walk on my own at a slow pace. But a month after I woke up from that night, I was able to walk more than fine, and my previously damaged body was fully healed, with even more muscle mass than before. I even started to do my first runs. And I didn't mean the jogging kind that most people do. I speak of a real run when I run at more than 100 miles per hour. Soon I realized that I could go faster. Way faster. It was an exhilarating sensation to go from doctors telling that you might never be able to run again to going at 120 miles per hour on small roads and passing cars as if they were not moving. It's a sensation that just can't be described."

Even if Astrid could not relate to what Hiccup felt, she could imagine what it must have been to run so fast that cars seemed standing still. Running down roads, passing trains, feeling the strong wind moving through your hair. She remembered what she felt when Night Fury was carrying her in the streets of Berk: a rush of adrenaline like she never felt before and an indescribable sensation of freedom. But no matter how great it felt to run like that, it didn't explain how he came to be Night Fury.

"I'm sure that it must have felt amazing but what happened after? Did you just wake up one morning and decided to put a costume and save the day?"

"Not exactly. As great as running at top speed felt, I knew that I had to keep it a secret. As a scientist, I knew what I wouldn't give to be able to study someone with my capabilities. So there was no talking about how much the government would want to do the same. As much as I loved the idea of helping people, I read enough comics book to know what it would entail in the end. No, at that time I decided to lay low. Moreover, I was still getting used to my powers. I was still learning to use them. However, it didn't mean that I just ignored crimes or people in need when I saw them. When I was running if I saw someone in need, I would swing by to help them, but I was always careful not to be seen. It was also at that time that I tickled a bit with my prosthetic leg to make it look like a metal one and made a black suit for when I run. But it was to preserve my anonymity, not to be a vigilante. I wasn't patrolling and actively looking to stop crimes."

"Then what changed?"

For a few seconds, Hiccup only looked at her. Astrid grew nervous by that sudden silence. When spoke again, he knew she wouldn't like what he was about to say.

"Another of the reason I did not try to be a vigilante before was that I was working here at the BCPD, with you guys, arresting bad guys. I knew the amount of work that went in each case to make sure that everyone got justice and a fair trial and we made sure that everyone will get what he deserved sooner or later. Even if we didn't always manage to accomplish all these goals, I knew that the BCPD had competent people that would do a much finer job than me on my own, even with all those powers. But then came the gang war between the Outcasts and the Berserkers and the bloody Thanksgiving of the Berserkers with the death of Oswald the Agreeable and the rise of Dagur the Deranged. Blood of the gangs was running down the street and with it the blood of just as many innocent people. The BCPD was overwhelmed and stretched fine to try to deal with it, but we just couldn't put a term to this senseless war. Meanwhile, I was standing there with all that power but no way to fix that situation. And then came Christmas."

Astrid's heart began to beat faster when Hiccup spoke of Christmas. She knew there was only one notable event that day and started to guess where Hiccup was going. She could tell she didn't want to hear it but couldn't stop tell him to stop.

"I was at the BCPD and was trying to see my dad and try to fix things between us once again. At least for Christmas Eve. It was getting late, and he was still in that stupid meeting. I was wearing that dumb pull-over that he offered me a few years ago when he didn't know what to get me. It was red with-"

"Blue and white reindeer. You also had a blue scarf with a red hat."

He wasn't surprised that she remembered it. After all, she just proved to him that she had an excellent memory.

"Yes. I was waiting for him but it didn't look like my dad would leave anytime soon. So I wrote my dad a note on his desk and passed by the detective squad as I left. That when I heard that-"

"That I was in danger and desperately needed help."

The more the story was going on, the more it was confirming her fears. She almost told him to stop, to not say it. Almost.

"Yes. Fishlegs yelled at Snotlout that you were in a massive exchange of fire and needed an immediate backup at the construction site at Madison Avenue. Not taking the time to think about it, I ran there as fast as I could. When I arrived, I saw a big explosion on the fifth floor. I ran to that floor and saw that you were okay. I was about to leave when the leader of the Black Hood took you by surprise with two more men."

"They were about to shoot me when I only had a knife left. So you took them out."

Hiccup slowly nodded.

"Then you and I exchanged a look. I couldn't see your face in the dark but I saw your eyes. You were angry and you left when you heard Snotlout coming. But something changed in you at that moment isn't it?"

Hiccup had a small wry smile. There really was no hiding anything to her.

"You're right. Something changed. I realized that if I hadn't been there, if I didn't have those powers, the best detective of the BCPD would have died at the hand of three miserable lowlifes. The best of the BCPD was hopeless while I had managed save you with little effort on my part. At that moment I knew that I couldn't keep being out of it and just be a forensic scientist. I might not be able to protect innocent serves justice as good as the entire BCPD can, but I can protect the detectives and officers of the BCPD. I could assist the BCPD to do their job and protect them from lowlives that shouldn't even have the opportunity to harm them. But not just them, I could also save those the help just couldn't arrive in time. From that point, I started to be more active and patrol Berk with an authentic costume. Soon after that, I helped a kid from a fire and got the name of Night Fury. A month later I made my first televised intervention. From that point, I knew there was no turning back. That's how I became Night Fury."

Astrid was no longer listening to what Hiccup was saying in the end. She had already guessed was the reason for him to become Night Fury but didn't want to admit it.

She was the reason.

Because she couldn't correctly protect herself he felt the need to become the vigilante Night Fury to protect her. Night Fury was born because of how poorly she handled things at Christmas with the Black Hood and Dagur. Without her incompetence, there would be no Night Fury.

The truth was that other factors came into Hiccup's decision and someone capable of fighting fifteen elite gang members as the Black Hood was far from what one would call incompetent. However, that's how she took at that time.

And the fact remained that he was when he saved Astrid for the first time that he decided to be a hero. But Hiccup's feelings for Astrid more than likely played also a role in that decision.

Initially, Astrid planned to make him answer all her questions and then beat him a bit more before trying to figure what the hell they were going to do about that mess. But now she knew that she was the reason for him becoming Night Fury she didn't feel like it anymore. Her head was buzzing with what Hiccup just told her, and the only thing Astrid wanted right now was to be alone. She just couldn't deal with all she learned today and needed time for herself.

With a blank expression, she moved away from Hiccup and made a move to the door. Hiccup was surprised as she was leaving without saying a word. He couldn't help but ask.

"Is that all you wanted to know? After how you threatened me if I didn't answer all your questions?"

She stopped at the door but didn't face him. She was not sure if she could anymore.

"No, it's not over. Far from it but I need some time to figure things out. Today had way too many things that happened. Good thing that I got time. Now that I'm suspended."

She let out a small laugh filled with derision.

Hiccup didn't know what to say. After all, it was his fault if Astrid got suspended. Not waiting for an answer, Astrid opened the door and was leaving. However, Hiccup had to ask.

"Will you tell the others? Will you tell my dad?"

She paused again and seemed to think about it for a moment.

"No. Don't worry. Your secret is safe. At least for now."

This time she left. Hiccup could have caught up to her but didn't. Hiccup understood her need to be alone, to take the time muse about things. He too also had a lot to think about.

_I really hope that it is the last surprise for today._

* * *

At the same moment, a meeting at the highest level was happening at Helheim's Gate's headquarters. It was the same room where Red Death and Drago were when Red Death dismembered that poor Dean. However, it was no longer as dark and empty as before. The light was turned on, displaying in full view the strangeness of the room.

The room was devoid of paint or decoration of any kind. The only decoration was at the other end of the room where a throne stood. An actual, honest to God, throne with red velvet, polished old wood and real gold in it. It was put on a small elevated platform covered in a red carpet that continued all the way till the middle of the room where a large round table had been dressed with four lavished chair disposed around it.

To complete the weirdness of that picture the throne was way bigger than one for a regular human. It was almost twice as big. When you saw that appearance of splendor of that throne and the red carpet and the table and compared it to the cracked corner of the room and the lack of any other decoration you couldn't help but wonder if you didn't find yourself on the set of a cheap B-movie of a strange megalomaniac villain.

The only thing on the table was an engraving of a picture. It was composed of the ancient heavy gate that had come to be known as the symbol of Helheim's Gate. In front of it was the bloody fist that was in the uniform of the men who ambushed Night Fury. Behind the ancient gate was a picture we never saw before: an island with a large mountain surrounded by mist and lightning. The island was barely visible behind the mist. But a clearer version of it was also found engraved into the golden throne on the platform. Meanwhile on each of the chair around the table was engraved one of the four other symbols: the ancient heavy gate, the mist, the lightning and the bloody fist.

Actually, what wasn't known by many was that this picture of that ancient heavy gate and bloody fist barring the way to an island shrouded in mist and lightning was the real symbol of Helheim's Gate. The ancient heavy gate was just part of it and was the symbol of a single division of Helheim's Gate.

Helheim's Gate was divided into four divisions that each was associated to one of the symbols of that picture. First was the division of the Gate. It was the division with the largest number of members and constituted the main force of Helheim's Gate. Every new member was first assigned to the Gate, and the Gate was doing all the menial tasks of a criminal organization: robbery, blackmail, stealing,... The Gate was tasked with bringing money into Helheim's Gate and its members were the ones who would often be on the field facing the police and Night Fury. The Gate had so many members that its symbol, the ancient heavy gate, had been confused for the symbol of Helheim's Gate.

Hiccup already encountered the second division: the Bloody Fist. Their symbol was a bloody fist above the symbol of the Gate. Their member was selected among the Gate and constituted the elite force of Helheim's Gate and answered only to Drago Bludvist and Red Death. They were limited in number and conducted all the critical operations of Helheim's Gate which they wanted to make sure would not fail. They had been essential to the growth in power of Helheim's Gate in Berk and had an undying loyalty to their leader, the Bloody Fist, Drago Bludvist. Even if all the divisions were considered equal in the hierarchy of Helheim's Gate, as they were under the direct order of the second in command, they often considered themselves superior to the other divisions. They had been the one who ambushed Night Fury at that warehouse. The chair of the Bloody Fist was also the closest one to the golden throne.

The other two divisions left were the most secretive of Helheim's Gate: the Mist and the Lightning. Those two divisions were tasked with intelligence but with different purposes and goals. The Lightning was the division that studied the Speed Force and had to gather everything needed to pursue that research: scientists, equipment, data,... They are ready to do anything to succeed and won't hesitate to remove anything in their way. They also are the division that handles most of the interrogations and tortures happening at Helheim's Gate. Like the Bloody Fist, only part of their operation was known, but they collaborated several times quite closely with the Bloody Fist for the creation of the Nadders and other super powered battle slave. Their symbol was the lightning part of Helheim's Gate's symbol. However, when you removed the mist and everything else to get only the lightning of the symbol, you saw that the lightning actually took the shape of a flying creature spouting lightning. It was why the leader of the Lightning division was called the Skrill by selected few.

Finally, the last division was the most secretive division of all: the Mist. They were the one charged with all intelligence gathering and acted as support for the other divisions. They could find any information for any division. They told the Gate when and where to hit their targets. They told the Gate which cops were corrupted which weren't. They provided detailed information to the Bloody Fist for each of their covert operations. And they also were the one who actually looked for the equipment and scientists that the Lightning needed. The Skrill would only decide what the Lightning's moves after reviewing the information given by the Mist. No one apart the first and second-in-command of Helheim's Gate knew how many people the Mist had or who their leader was. The Mist was also the only division to not wear their symbol on them to preserve their identity. Their symbol was the Mist, but if you looked closely at the engraving on the chair of the leader of the Mist, you could see that a bunch of eyes that was clearly not human was hidden in the shadows. The leader of the Mist was called the Smokebreath, a creature which, according to old tales, was supposed to exist a long time ago just like the Skrill. The rumor was that the leader of the Mist had tattooed on him the only remaining picture of that monster of legend.

"Where is His Highness?"

Saying His Highness always stuck in Dagur's throat but he knew better than being disrespectful to Red Death. He had seen how furious he could get from the slightest show of disrespect and what a terrible fate was awaiting the poor souls who had the unfortunate idea to do so. That's why he always called Red Death His Highness whenever he was at the headquarter even if he didn't see him. He knew the abilities of the boss and would rather be cautious than end up gruesomely dismembered.

"He would not be here today. He is inspecting our reserves of Speed Force."

Drago replied in a flat tone. Meanwhile, Dagur frowned deeply.

"Why wasn't I informed? I'm in charge of anything related to the Speed Force, including the reserves. It seems logical that I should be the first informed if His Highness were to visit it."

Drago merely raised an eyebrow before answering in the same flat tone with a hint of disdain.

"Why should His Highness bother to inform you? You are merely one of his subjects, he doesn't have any obligation to report any of his decision to you. But if you want I can tell him that you would want him to first ask you before accessing his reserves of Speed Force."

Dagur ground his teeth in anger but knew better than losing his temper.

"No. No need to bother His Highness with that. I was just surprised that's all."

Ever since Helheim's Gate and that freaking Red Death arrived in town, Dagur had no choice but to comply with them. It had been difficult for him to contain his temper when he was blatantly disrespected like that but he managed to pull through nonetheless.

Even if Dagur had a short fuse, he was someone able to see the bigger picture and knew how to bide his time. He was aware that the day will come when things will go in his favor, and that day he will pay back all he endured with ten times the interests. But now wasn't that day.

"Where is Smokebreath? I thought he would finally join us."

This time it was Alvin who spoke. The head of the Berserkers was sitting at the chair of the head of the Gate. When Helheim's Gate arrived in Berk, Alvin was still rebuilding his Outcasts so that they could continue their war against the Berserkers to decide once and for all who was the top dog in Berk. When Helheim's Gate first came to Berk, Alvin was almost ready to start the war again, the Outcasts were actually stronger than they ever were before. However, in a matter of weeks, Helheim's Gate went from the newbies occupying part of the docks that the incontestable leader of all criminality in Berk. Alvin the Treacherous and his Outcasts had no choice but to bend over to that new leader, the Red Death. But to his surprise, while he was expected to be killed or exiled from Berk, Helheim's Gate offered him a position of power far above what he ever had before: head of the Gate. He agreed, the Outcasts became integrated into the Gate with Alvin in charge of the greatest force in Berk.

Aside from that quirk of the Red Death who insisted on being called either by his full name or His Highness, it wasn't a bad life for Alvin who had far more power than he ever had before. Later he was surprised to learn that the Skrill, the head of the Lightning, was Dagur and almost killed each other at the first meeting of the executives of Helheim's Gate. But Red Death's appearance put a quick end to their fight. Since then they mutually agreed to make peace, but Alvin knew better than to trust the word of Dagur the Deranged. He was sure that Dagur was also thinking the same. After all, Alvin wasn't called the Treacherous for nothing.

As for the other participants of the meeting of executives, Alvin didn't have much thought about them. Drago was a quiet leader with a cold personality. He had little to say, but everything he said was an order that was expected to follow to the letters. No mistakes or negotiations was allowed. There was no room for discussion as he calmly imposed his rule over the other executives. His imposing physique and frightening metal arm weren't Drago's strongest assets. What made the other executives respect and even fear him was his frighteningly keen mind and the trust the Red Death had in him. That trust ensured that he was the indisputable effective leader of Helheim's Gate. Despite how scary Red Death was, he mostly didn't bother with the organization of Helheim's Gate, leaving that to Drago. Red Death gave his instructions, but Helheim's Gate was following the orders of Drago, including the other executives like Alvin and Dagur.

Usually, the executive meetings included Dagur, Alvin, Drago and occasionally Red Death. But there was one executive that hadn't show his face at the previous meetings: the leader of the Mist, Smokebreath. Even though Alvin and Dagur often received intel from him, they never met him or even saw Smokebreath. They didn't even know if it was a man or a woman. His identity was a complete mystery. However, this time Drago said that he had something to say to all of them, including Smokebreath.

"Don't worry Gatekeeper. Smokebreath said that he is coming."

Drago answered Alvin's question in the same unhurried way he did Dagur's question.

Gatekeeper was the title of the leader of the Gate. Alvin groaned in annoyance as Drago didn't answer his question at all. He began to doubt that Smokebreath would even appear.

Dagur, however, wasn't that interested in knowing who Smokebreath was. As long as he kept providing him intel, he didn't mind.

"It doesn't matter anyway. We don't need him to begin with. I'm pleased to announce that we, the Lightning, had worked hard night and day and we managed to extract and purify all the Speed Force we harvested yesterday. Not only we have succeeded in extracted more than our initial estimation but we also improved the extraction process and managed to have a Speed Force at 15 percent of purity."

The biggest setback of Helheim's Gate current extraction process of the Speed Force was that they needed to dilute it to be able to extract it from the casing of the harvesters of Speed Force. It was something inevitable, but it made them lose massive amounts of the energy. There was little they could do as most of the study on the Speed Force had been theoretical so far and they hadn't been able to do practical experiments before. They could only improve themselves by fail and trial.

So far they have only been able to extract the Speed Force at 12 percent of purity so being able to extract it at 15 percent represented a massive difference in the energy obtained.

Drago had a slightly arched brow from surprise at the news, but that was his only reaction. His voice kept being as cold as previously.

"15 percent? That's good. Better than I expected. Keep it up. The Speed Force is hard to come by, any improvement in purity is a massive success."

"All that is good, but we need to think about the cost of the attack we did to get that Speed Force," complained Alvin. "The Gate paid a hefty price in that attack, way more than we anticipated. We lost over 60 percent of our numbers, we won't be able to afford another one. The BCPD was more prepared than we expected. I had to admit that even if Stoick seems to be only out for Night Fury, he still handles the BCPD well. Even if we can get some of our men out, we can't bail them all out. Most of them will end up at Iron Heights and we won't be able to do anything about it. Moreover, the rest of the gangs under us also paid an enormous price with little rewards. It will be difficult to keep them under control after that."

"Do not worry about them. If those morons dare to try something against us, we will crush them as we crush them the first time. As for the reduction in personal in the Gate, don't worry about it either. Soon the Lightning will be able to provide the Bloody Fist with more Nadders and Gronckles. They are still working on the Zipplebacks and Monstrous Nightmare. Once the Bloody Fist has them, the Gate won't have to worry about anything else."

Alvin didn't miss the tinge of haughtiness in Drago's tone but did not say anything. Instead, he decided to hit where it hurt.

"But didn't the Nadders got themselves killed by Night Fury? Moreover, those new soldiers of yours didn't succeed in getting their target in the first encounter either and let him escape. Are you sure that we should bet everything on them? They seem quite unreliable."

A tinge of annoyance appeared in Drago's gaze, but before he could answer, Dagur also started to criticize.

"And what about that guy they were supposed to get? What do we do about him? If I remember correctly, he was supposed to have some information about Night Fury. But now he's under the protection of the BCPD. They'll definitely protect him tight after that fiasco. How are we going to get him?"

"There is no need to concern yourself with him. He's no longer of any importance."

Drago coldly answered the critic.

"Wasn't he a priority? That why you sent the Nadders after all."

"We already acquired what we wanted for him."

Even Alvin was getting curious this time.

"How?"

Suddenly a voice resounded from behind them.

"I acquired it."

Alvin and Dagur were surprised by the familiar voice they didn't expect. They turned around as they saw someone they knew quite well approached.

"Smokebreath. You're finally here." commented the uninterested voice of Drago.

"My apologies, Sir Bloody Fist. Some last minute business kept me occupied."

Drago quirked a questioning eyebrow.

"Do not worry. I already take care of it. It-"

"TRADER JOHANN?!"

Dagur couldn't hold it in anymore.

"You're Smokebreath?!"

Alvin couldn't help but ask.

"Yes, indeed I am. But let's not tardy on such trivial matters." nonchalantly replied Trader Johann as he sat at the table to his seat of the leader of the Mist.

"It was my understanding that you had an important piece of news to announce Sir Bloody Fist. It is why I showed myself today. I take that it is time for the next phase of His Highness's plan?"

The corners of Drago's lips quietly lifted into a slight arc. Trader Johann was a lot more pleasant to deal with than the two idiots of Dagur and Alvin. Trader Johann never lost sight of what mattered, it was a quality that Drago found enjoyable.

"You're right. Smokebreath. Gatekeeper. Skrill. His Highness ordered that we move forward to step 3."

Dagur still wanted to question Trader Johann but when he heard what Drago said, a sharp glint appeared in his eyes. He exchanged a look with Alvin who had the same pleased expression.

They both knew what step 3 implied. It was time for them to finally step into the game.

* * *

**End of chapter 28**

**There, finally. It took me some time to finish that chapter which once again was longer that I expected. I hoped that it answers your questions and it met your expectation of this confrontation between Hiccup and Astrid.**

**For this chapter I tried a new method to correct myself so I hope it is better to read.**

**On another note, I'm sorry for the delay. I know that I promised to release it three weeks after the last chapter and I wanted to posted the 1st March but something unexpected happened which seriously delayed me.**

**Alright then! I'll try to meet my deadline this time. See you in three weeks.**


	29. Chapter 29 - Resolve of a father

**Hiccup in a Flash, chap 29**

**I do not own How To Train Your Dragon or its characters, just merely borrowing the character for an adventure of my own.**

**Please enjoy yourself with this fanfic ^^**

**\- Chapter 29: Resolve of a father**

* * *

"Beeeep! Beeeep! Beeeep! Beeeep! Beeeep!"

With a groan, Stoick tried to cut off the annoying noise that was troubling his sleep. But as soon as the alarm stopped, the radio went on with the latest news.

"""_Berk is still recovering from the attack that happened two days ago as new developments keep coming in. There is a new report that says that the Police knew the attack was coming but did nothing to prepare. The BCPD spokesperson declined to answer any question at the moment. We tried to reach Commissioner Haddock for a comment, but our calls had been ignored. Speculations are running high as the citizens of Berk wants answers. We will keep you informed of any new development that…"""_

Stoick stopped listening and was now wide awake. The events of the last few days came back to him all at once: the attack on Berk, the intervention of Night Fury, Astrid confessing that she worked with Night Fury, the dreaded words _Speed Force_ coming out of his son's mouth. That last struck him hard. It had been one of his deepest fear ever since Hiccup got interested in becoming a scientist.

Stoick mindlessly sat on his bed as the radio went on. The news was still centered on the attack. The media already nicknamed it the Crime Attack. But some was calling it the Crime Fury. They believed that the attack happened because the criminals in Berk were pushed too hard by Night Fury, so they rose together in anger to fight back the oppression of Night Fury. Hence the name Crime Fury.

Whether you called it the Crime Attack or the Crime Fury, most people were still shaken by it, and the pundits on the radio were discussing the origin of the attack and the victim toll. The victim toll was quite heavy, especially for the officers of the BCPD.

Stoick listened to the pundits discussing. Some had some harsh words for Stoick and the BCPD.

"""_Martha, I'm not saying that those officers' death is not a tragedy. It is. 15 officers dying the same day is a staggering number, something we never saw before in Berk. But in front of such tragedy, I can't help but ask myself about the responsibility that the BCPD and Stoick Haddock ought to have in this attack. Considering the sudden meetings that have been leaked to have happened just before the attack, we can conclude that Stoick Haddock and the BCPD knew about the attack beforehand and still, despite knowing about it, 15 officers died. They obviously weren't prepared enough. It rightfully raises the question of the competence of Stoick Haddock and the BCPD as a whole. I think it is a proof of the Commissioner's incompetence, but also I think there was a failure on the part of the BCPD's officer who didn't manage to do their job. After all, need I remind you that two civilians also died in that attack?"""_

The other pundit was about to contest the accusation and defend the BCPD, but Stoick never heard it as he angrily cut off the radio.

_Rightfully my ass. We got informed less than twelve hours before the attack, and a large part of the victims was because of those freaking monsters with Speed Force._

Hiccup didn't tell Stoick that the men who killed the Alex and the other officers were using Speed Force. Stoick deduced it on his own when he saw the footage of the dashboard camera of the patrol car and the vest camera of the officers. He saw the abnormal look in their eyes and the superhuman reflexes they showed. It was easy for Stoick to determine what happened. After all, he already saw what the Speed Force can do a long time ago.

Grumbling, Stoick took a look at the clock on the wall.

8:03 AM

It was way later than he was used to. Usually Stoick would be awake at 6:00 AM and long gone before 8:00 AM. But last night he got caught up in the final preparation for today and didn't make it home before 3:00 AM.

He bet that if Valka were still there, she would have waited for him to come home before scolding him for coming back so late. But that is assuming she wouldn't have heard of him suspending Hiccup. Knowing her and remembering the protective look she gave Hiccup when he was only a baby, she would have severely reminded Stoick who had the fiercest personality between the two of them.

With a small sad smile, Stoick moved away from the bed and made his way to the kitchen to fix himself some breakfast.

As he was rummaging through the fridge looking for something edible to eat, Stoick couldn't help but be taken by the heavy silence floating into the house.

Even though Hiccup left the house more than a year ago, Stoick still wasn't used to his absence. They rarely talked on a daily basis, but a house containing Hiccup was rarely silent. Whether it was when he was working on some project of his or when he was keeping himself busy with various chores around the house, there always some joyful noises and energy seeping through the walls.

Even in the morning when Stoick was up early and Hiccup was still sleeping, Stoick could still hear him snoring. And boy, can Hiccup snore.

_It might be the only thing he inherited from me. _Sadly though Stoick.

As the years went by, the truth became more and more self-evident that Hiccup was becoming a lot more like his mother than Stoick, despite his best efforts.

Stoick looked at the door of the guest room that Hiccup made it into his own that was right next to the kitchen. When Hiccup was in high school, he insisted that he needed to be closer to the kitchen so that he could make some snacks when working late on school projects. Rather than school work, he ended up working on several personal projects for self-made forensic tools, which more than often ended up blowing up the garage right next to the kitchen.

Seeing the door of the now empty room, Stoick couldn't help but remember all those time he went down to the kitchen in the morning only to find the door of Hiccup's room wide open and Hiccup snoring loudly. Hiccup would have fallen asleep late at night on his desk, drooling on some paper where he scribbled some schematics for God knows what.

Stoick would then make a helpless smile before delicately carrying him to his bed and made sure that his alarm was on for his next classes. But every time he felt a little angry as he looked at the projects that Hiccup was working on. Stoick didn't want him to follow the footstep of his mother, but it seemed that snoring wasn't the only thing that Hiccup took from him. Sadly Hiccup also took Stoick's stubbornness.

Stoick didn't know how things got so wrong between them. They used to be very close.

That wasn't true. Stoick knew exactly when things went wrong between them. He just didn't want to admit it to himself.

At first, when Hiccup was little and Stoick was the only one taking care of him, things weren't that bad between them. Even if sometimes Stoick was a bit out of his depth with raising a child on his own, and was kind of awkward to express his love, often playing the stern dad card, Hiccup knew that Stoick loved and cared for him.

At that time, Hiccup was an unending source of energy and positivity that managed to pierce the defense of even Stoick the Vast. While some might found their relationship strange, they were quite close to each other. Even when he was little, Hiccup has always been a bright child and was able to see how Stoick cared for him through the little signs Stoick left.

When Gobber visited them, he would often found Hiccup had snuggle himself into the arm of the tired Stoick when he was working at home late at night. Stoick would always have a helpless face and acted as if annoyed but Gobber could see the fondness in Stoick's eyes and the bare lift of a smile in the corner of his mouth. And when Hiccup finally fell asleep into his arm, Stoick would regularly stop what he was doing to gently looked at Hiccup with a silly grin. Truth be told, it was the only times that Gobber would see Stoick genuinely smiled after Valka was gone.

But everything changed that fateful day. Hiccup was only six when one day, after Stoick brought him back from school, Hiccup was unusually silent and with no energy. Generally, as soon as he walked into the house, he would throw his bag on the couch before urging Stoick into the kitchen where he would blab on and on about his day in school. But today from the moment picked him up at school to dinner time, Hiccup barely said three words. Finally, when Stoick asked what was wrong, Hiccup finally asked the question that Stoick had dreaded since the time Hiccup was old enough to speak.

Stoick had long anticipated that question. He knew that one day it would come. Stoick just didn't expect it to arrive so soon and was caught unprepared. At that moment, the lie he told Hiccup that day would forever be one of the hardest things he ever did, but Stoick knew he had to. Hiccup was just too young to understand the truth.

However, he made a mistake. He didn't say it correctly, he should have told it better, phrase it better. But he didn't. At that moment, Stoick saw that light disappeared in Hiccup's eyes, and he knew he made a mistake. But it was too late. Stoick wasn't able to correct this error, and no amount of explanations brought back that light in the young Hiccup's eyes. No amount of regret could ever surpass the pain when Stoick felt something broke between the two of them.

All of it was because of those six little words:

"_Hiccup, you are not my son."_

Ever since that day, things went awry between them. Hiccup tried way too hard to prove himself worthy of his father. He worked hard in all that could make his father proud but only ended up creating catastrophes upon catastrophes. Stoick, eaten by guilt, began to speak even less with Hiccup fearing to make things worse. However, pretty soon Stoick realized a distance had appeared between them and was getting continually bigger. Stoick didn't know how to fix it, how to went back to they were before. Every time he went home and saw Hiccup avoid looking at him, a small part of him died. There was no longer enthusiast discussion about what he did at school, or what he liked or what he might have done with his friends. Hiccup only tried to blab awkwardly about anything that he thought Stoick might want to discuss.

As things went on, Stoick realized he no longer really knew his son. It became more evident after Hiccup followed Stoick at the BCPD and got interested in forensic. At first, it was a mild interest. It was more to please his uncle Gobber, but soon Hiccup was hooked as he discovered that he was actually good at it. Hiccup even began to found back the enthusiasm and energy he had when he was little. Hiccup happily spoke of forensic with Stoick, about his ideas and discoveries, the things he learned from Gobber. Stoick found that spark of unyielding energy in his eyes he dearly missed in the last years, but it brought him no joy.

Not only Hiccup looked less like him, and more like his mother, he actually began to walk in her footsteps. Stoick knew all too well the tragic fate that awaited Valka on the end of that road. Even when Gobber told Stoick that he was acting crazy, that there was no way that Hiccup would actually end up like Valka, Stoick didn't want to take the risk. Stoick continuously tried to dissuade Hiccup to pursue that road. At first, Stoick didn't want to be too hard and tried to talk him out as gently as he could. But Hiccup didn't just have the Haddock's name, he also had the stubbornness that went with it, and now that he actually had something he liked, he would not let it go.

The tone of their discussions rapidly elevated and would often finish in shouting matches. To more precise, Stoick would angrily shout while Hiccup would reply with biting sarcasm. Stoick tried to change his approach by badmouthing forensics and pushed him to participate in sports clubs, but it seemed to only have the opposite effect. Hiccup was ineluctably attracted to science and was impressively good at it. Several times, even Stoick was surprised by the different projects he had done and the talent he showed in it. However, he kept it to himself and instead harshly criticized his projects.

In the end, Stoick could only watch his relation with his son degraded over time as he resolutely walked off to be a forensic scientist. At that point, Stoick realized that there was no changing Hiccup and was at his wits' end on what to do.

Then came the accident. One night Gobber called him to say that Hiccup got caught in a fire in an experiment gone wrong and was at the hospital under intensive care. Stoick still had nightmares from that night when the doctors told him they had to cut off his son's leg. He then watched Hiccup screamed in pain for days before the doctors came back to see him and told him that they might cut off Hiccup's other leg too. That period had been a living nightmare for Stoick, it made him forget all about his dispute and disappointment in his son's choices.

When Hiccup miraculously recovered, Stoick tried to convince him to come back live with him, Hiccup resolutely refused and went back to live in his apartment. From that point, Stoick didn't want to continue to live like that and actively consulted Gobber on how to fix things with Hiccup. But before he could try to fill in the gap between them, Night Fury appeared before his eyes and the eyes of the world.

Stoick immediately recognized the powers of Night Fury. It was the Speed Force. The very thing that took his wife and created the gap between him and his son. From that moment forward, Stoick made it his personal mission to eradicate that scourge. He would not have that blasted power coming back into his life. It already took too much from him.

Suddenly, Stoick realized that he had reminisced for too long while fixing Hiccup's former bedroom door and he was actually running late.

* * *

At that point Stoick realized that he had reminisced for too long while fixing Hiccup's former bedroom's door and he was actually running late.

He hurriedly took a quick shower and looked into his closet for an appropriate suit for today's ceremony. They were burying the officers killed in the attack today so he couldn't be late. He owed at least that much to those officers.

He finally found his formal suit of Commissioner that he wore to such events, too often to his taste. However, he did not have time to think about it as he hurriedly put it before getting in the car that was waiting for him.

In his first years as the Commissioner, Stoick refused to have an official car with a driver, but as the city got bigger and he found himself under more and more work. Then he reluctantly agreed to this car, but only so that he could start working in the car. And today was no exception, while the car slowly advanced through traffic, Stoick was rehearsing his speech to the families of the officers.

It sounded all too familiar to Stoick, and he couldn't help but remember the first time he delivered such a speech. It was nearly 23 years ago. Some sentences didn't even change.

"_We're here to honor the memory and mourn the loss of fellow officers, to grieve with their loved ones, to support this community, and pray for the wounded, and to try and find some meaning amidst our sorrow."_

"_The work of police officers across the country is like no other. For the moment you put on that uniform, you have answered a call that at any time, even in the briefest interaction, may put your life in harm's way."_

It was not that Stoick meant those words any less now than before. Even if he had repeated those more than once, never did he not meant them. Especially now, because right now when, like 23 years ago, the Speed Force was present. Valka was involved at the time, and now it was Hiccup.

Stoick clenched his fist tightly on the corner of which he was holding his speech.

_I will not let Hiccup end up like Valka._

After calming for a bit, he tried to smooth out his speech, but it was too late. Nevermind, he already memorized most of it.

"Commissioner, we are here."

His driver told him as he parked the car in front of the memorial service. With a silent node, Stoick got out and promptly joined the other officers.

He arrived a bit late and quickly joined his place next to Spitelout.

"You're late."

Spitelout coldly reminded him. Stoick stayed undisturbed as he smoothly lied in a quiet voice.

"I know. Traffic was terrible."

Spitelout didn't seem to believe him but said nothing. Instead he warned Stoick.

"You missed your chance to present your condolence to the families earlier. Fair warning. They are pretty riled up by the media. It almost turned into quite a circus earlier. Especially the family Carter. Only when the coffins arrived that things calmed down."

Stoick solemnly nodded as he looked at the families of the victims at the front row. He was not surprised that the Carters were more touched than the others. Alexander Carter was the youngest of the officers killed and was still in training. He shouldn't have found himself in arm ways like that.

"Thanks. I'll try to be cautious."

Stoick did not have the opportunity to meet the families yet. Normally he would have been the one to announce the news to the families before the press could tell it on the news but he had to deal with the rest of the attack, and the press was already roaming around the dead officer's body like a bunch of vultures. In the end, Silent Sven, the captain of the 9 of the dead officers, and Spitelout, the captain of the 6 other officers, had been the one who went to see the families as they personally knew most of them. Since then they had been the families' liaison and informed Stoick of the wishes of the families for the funerals. Stoick had then organized the venue the fastest possible as the families didn't want the ceremony to turn up into a media circus.

After hearing Spitelout warning, Stoick promptly moved in front of the procession, and after checking if the families were ready, he started the march toward the cemetery.

The entire city seemed to have come to a standstill as a long funeral procession, with full police escort, winds its way to the cemetery. Hundreds of uniformed officers were quietly walking along to show their unity. It truly was quite a sight to see.

Once they arrived at the cemetery, the religious service began. First was the invocation and prayer before the priest officially started and began to read the scripture while the police orchestra began playing a solemn music in the background.

They came the time for the speakers to speak in front of the audience. First was the mayor who took the floor with a long speech about the sacrifice of those men and women gone too soon.

Even if his speech was not bad, Stoick found it to be lacking in sincerity and was way too long. After the mayor, a spokesperson for the governor delivered his speech, followed by the families representatives, the Union representative and some friends from the department of the officers.

Finally, came Stoick's turn to speak at the eulogy.

He had his speech all prepared and memorized. The narration was the same over the years. That it was a tragedy that none could have predicted. A disaster that showed to the world the bravery of those men. A bravery that wasn't pointless as, like every officer of the BCPD, they based on their commitment to serve and protect.

However as Stoick was standing in front of the crowd and the families of those fifteen officers, he felt like he could no longer use this speech anymore. The families deserved his honest and genuine feelings. Not some politically correct gibberish pretending to be able to ease their pain.

Especially when he looked at the pain and anger plainly visible on the face of the Carter family. They had lost their son before he was fully an adult. For Christ's sake, Alexander was still not allowed to drink beer!

The father of Alexander was looking at Stoick standing on the stage, and a hint of hate was burning in his eyes. Stoick did not blame him. He was responsible of Alexander, he should have made sure nothing happened to him during his training period, and yet it had.

For a long minute, Stoick just stood there, completely silent in front of the graves. He couldn't find the word expressing what he felt at that moment.

There was so much going on in his mind. His sadness and guilt for those dead officers. His worry for his son chasing after the very thing that killed his mother. His rage for Helheim's Gate, those sick murderers, but also for Night Fury who was what started all this circus. His powerlessness to change any of those.

But while Stoick stood silent, trying to decide what he should say, the reporters suddenly showed up with the full camera crews. They stayed farther away during the ceremony, but now that the Commissioner was about to say his eulogy, they all came closer to try and get it on tape.

Gobber was furious as he began to yell at the journalists.

"Do you guys know now shame?! This is a funeral, God damn it! Not a place for you people to run wild! Have some respect!"

However, the journalists completely ignored him as the cameramen moved to find the better spot. They have long since been to these kinds of insults.

Gobber was about to physically remove them one by one when he was stopped by Stoick.

"Leave them be Gobber. Those vultures ain't going anywhere even if you try to chase them away. They'll just find another way to get what they want."

Stoick then turned to face the press.

"It is somewhat good that you came today. Because I honestly didn't have any word to describe the tragedy that struck us all. Two days ago, a bunch of ruthless criminals calling themselves Helheim's Gate, pushed all the criminals of Berk to act at the same time to instill chaos in our great city. Thanks to the sacrifice of the fallen heroes present here today and the bravery of every officer of the BCPD, we managed to prevent as much damage as possible from falling on the citizen of Berk. The job wasn't perfectly done and some, sadly, lost their lives. There is no word strong enough to describe the events of that day or the courage of those who lost their life that following the pledge they made to serve and protect. Or at least, I don't know those words."

Stoick stopped for a moment as he glared at the reporters, daring them to refute him.

"However I do have a word to qualify those of Helheim's Gate. Cowards. Cowards that didn't have the balls to face the BCPD and its officers themselves and chose to send others to do their bidding. Cowards who spend their time plotting and scheming against their enemy rather than facing him up front. Cowards who prefer to lurk into the night for fear that the light of day exposes them for what they really are. It is why I say this to Helheim's Gate: enough! You might fear us and refuse to face us, but we are not afraid of you. We will track you and make sure that there isn't a stone in Berk under which you could hide yourselves. The blood of enough good men and women had been spilled, and I will make sure that the next blood that flow won't be from the BCPD or the good citizen of Berk. And I say this to every criminal in Berk that helped Helheim's Gate attack our great city. I didn't forget about you and justice will also come from you. It does not matter if Helheim's Gate forced you, you will have to answer for your actions. So do yourselves a favor and cooperate with us to take down with Helheim's Gate. Because once I am done with Helheim's Gate; and trust me, I will; it will be your turn and you won't have anything left to negotiate with us. This is my first and sole warning to you. You better make the right choice now, or I personally swear I'll make your life your worst nightmare."

The press was very excited. It was rare to see the infamous Stoick be that emotional in a public speech. He would normally never do something like that. There was a lot of new info about the attack that wasn't shared before. Especially the fact that Stoick revealed the existence of Helheim's Gate. That name was sure to be on everyone's lips by the end of the day. But as they were about to leave in a hurry to transmit the news they realized with surprise that Stoick wasn't finished yet.

"My last warning goes to Night Fury. Even if you pose yourself as a hero, and I believe that you honestly think that you are doing some good, I will still track you with the full force of the BCPD. You might have helped during the tragic attack we suffered two days ago, but I know for sure that you are the very reason that attack happened in the first place. There was no Helheim's Gate before you came and there wouldn't be any if you didn't appear. You are a nuisance that does more harm than good, and I will personally make sure that you can't hurt this great city anymore. But I will not track solely because of my personal conviction. I have definite proof that during the attack you killed three men and heavily injured a fourth. And that killing will not go unpunished, you will answer to it. That is also my promise to you."

For a long moment, nobody said anything while Stoick stepped down from the podium to offer his condolences to the families of the victims.

Alexander's father was still glaring at him, but he accepted his condolences as he sensed that Stoick genuinely meant what he said and that he won't let his son and the other officers die in vain.

Meanwhile, the press and most of the people present were still trying to process what Stoick just said.

_Night Fury is the reason for the Crime Attack? Night Fury killed three persons?_

These are mind-blowing news, and some reporters had the urge to try to ask more questions to Stoick, but they were promptly booted out by Gobber and the officers close to the families of the victims.

After that the ceremony continued as planned: the presentations of the dead, closing remarks of the priest, the 21 bells ceremony, bagpipes play, the final radio call of the fallen officers, the removal of the flags before putting the caskets into their graves.

Once the ceremony was over, Stoick dismissed the officers present and promptly walked to his car while ignoring the reporters pressing around him. After shortly wrestling with them he entered his car and was closely followed behind by Gobber who also entered.

"Mind giving a friend a lift?"

Not waiting for an answer, Gobber made himself comfortable next to Stoick.

The car slowly moved away, but none of them said anything. Finally, Stoick could not hold it in anymore.

"What?"

"Nothing. I'm just surprised that's all. You could have given me a heads up."

Stoick grumbled but nonetheless replied.

"I didn't plan it this way."

"Sure didn't seem like it was planned. You really empty your bag out there. For a moment I almost thought that you'll start speaking of the Speed Force."

"I'm not an idiot Gobber. Even I know it was kind of stupid to talk about Helheim's Gate and Night Fury, I'm not dumb enough to publicly mention the Speed Force."

"Good. Keep it like it. Helheim's Gate would be the last of our problem if the word of the Speed Force got out there."

"I know Gobber. I'm well aware of the danger of the Speed Force."

Stoick looked by the window of the car and saw the tombstones stream in front of his eyes. He couldn't help but think of Valka and then of Hiccup. Stoick turned grim.

"I'm well aware."

* * *

**End of chapter 29**

**Hello guys! It's been quite some time and I know I'm really over my deadline. I honestly wanted to stick to it but lately I had zero motivation to write and only wanted to read other stuff. Sorry.**

**So this time I won't promise to make a new chapter in 3 weeks especially considering that I'm still unclear what the next chapters will entail. I know the ending of this fanfic and some important scene between now and the end but I don't have the full story in between so I need to think it over. **

**I can't guarantee the next chapter in 3 weeks but I'll try to do my best.**

**I hoped you enjoyed that chapter on Stoick. I didn't do it exactly as I first imagined it but I quite like how it turned out. ^^**

* * *

**IMPORTANT!**

**I want to ask a question for the next chapters of the story: the chapter are getting released more and more far in between but are also getting longer and longer. I started from chapter doing around 6-8 pages to chapter doing more than 20 pages.**

**So here is my question: do you prefer to wait for long chapters or to have smaller chapters but more regularly published? **

**To get an idea, I was thinking of making chapter around half as long of this one.**

**I honestly want to know your opinion. **

**Thank you for reading that far! ^^**


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